


Usurping Oberon

by roseclaw



Category: High School Musical
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-22
Updated: 2009-11-22
Packaged: 2017-10-03 14:12:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 30,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseclaw/pseuds/roseclaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Have you read <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i>? This is nothing like that. Wherein: Ryan is a Queen, Taylor has mad research skillz, Troy is both a stalker and a douche (he overcomes the latter), Gabriella has been a Disney Princess before there was even a Disney to princess, and Chad is in denial.  So, situation normal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Usurping Oberon

**Usurping Oberon**

**Pairing(s):** Chad/Ryan, Troy/Gabriella, past Chad/Taylor  
**Word Count:** ~31,000  
**Rating/Warnings:** R AU, slash, mix and matched mythology, a bit of gore  
**Summary:** Have you read _A Midsummer Night's Dream_? This is nothing like that. Wherein: Ryan is a Queen, Taylor has mad research skillz, Troy is both a stalker and a douche (he overcomes the latter), Gabriella has been a Disney Princess before there was even a Disney to princess, and Chad is in denial. So, situation normal.   
**Disclaimer:** HSM is that of Ortega and Disney.   
**Disclaimer 2:** I do not condone the use of any conjugation of the verb "to get" in the place of any conjugation of the verb "to be." Just because Chad does it, doesn't make it a good idea.  
**Author's Note:** A big thank you to both queenitsy and saekokato. This would never have been completed without either of these lovely ladies. This was written for HSM Big Bang.

I took all Celtic fairy tales and mythology, Arthurian mythology, D&amp;D, and Aztec mythology, put them in a blender with some juice and ice, pureed them, and poured out the resulting mythological smoothie into this fic. Don't think of each mythological history separately, because if you do, this will read as one big, incestuous orgy, which is not what it is: it's a mythological smoothie, complete with the little paper umbrellas and possibly a shot of rum.

This started out with me attempting not to turn this into a heteronormative fic, now it's all about post-colonialism. Sorry?

 

**Usurping Oberon**

 

Chad saw his first fairy when he was three.

He does not remember this.

\- - -

Chad spoke to his first fairy when he was seven.

The fairy stared at him with wide eyes and hid quickly.

Chad barely remembers this, but long ago he convinced himself it was a dream.

\- - -

Chad had his first conversation with a fairy when he was thirteen.

He and Troy had just had their first fight over a girl. Chad had gone to hide in the tree house his father had built in an old willow tree years ago. It was nowhere near as extravagant as the one Troy's father had built. Chad's was just a floor with railings. No one but Chad had ever been up there since its birth. It was Chad's haven. His designated alone time. If he was in the trees, he was to be left alone, whereas his mother could walk into his bedroom at any given moment.

The fairy spoke first, startling Chad. He pulled his knees to his chest, his arms holding his knees in place for Chad to drop his head onto them.

The fairy had a strong, comforting voice, Chad remembers that. The voice was small, but so was the fairy. It sat with its long legs splayed out on the railing of the tree house, looking at Chad with wide, blue eyes. It had wings, Chad noted, thick wings the same startling blue as its eyes. It also wore nothing to cover its transparent skin. There was a hint of blue tone to the skin, but Chad could see every beat of its tiny heart. It had long arms to match its long legs, no hair, and rows of flat teeth.

Chad doesn't remember what they talked about, but they talked for a very long time.

Chad never told anyone. Not even Troy.

\- - -

Chad is almost seventeen and having the worst summer of his life. He has a job he hates, he's not talking to his best friend, and his girlfriend wants to be "just friends" without giving him a reason. The summer's a little less than half over, and he's spending more time with Ryan fucking Evans than his best friend. In Ryan's defense, he's pretty cool. Not in the same way as Troy. Or Taylor. But he is cool. Gabriella wants to hang out with them. Ryan is okay with that, but Chad has reservations: he'd be choosing sides between his best friend and his best friend's ex. He can't put himself into that type of situation.

Chad is positive that his best friend will stop being a douche any day now. Well, Chad's hopeful. He misses his friend. Ryan doesn't fill that gap in Chad's life. If Chad were honest with himself, he would say that Ryan fills the gap _Taylor_ left, but Chad's not ready to be honest with himself.

Chad had come home from work, and instead of heading inside, he had gone right up to his tree house. It is now decaying with age, but it still holds Chad's weight. The night is mild, and Chad is content to lie down on the floor and look up at the stars - only slightly drowned out by the lights of the city. The branches of the willow are now long enough to brush the floor of the tree house, almost caressing Chad's skin. It's nice when it doesn't tickle. It's very soothing after the day that Chad had. He had broken no less than three plates, upended a bowl on cream of broccoli soup down the front of his pants, and poured ice water in a patron's lap. This was while he waited tables. When he had caddied for the Evanses, Mrs. Evans's backswing had caught Chad in the cheek, and a nice bruise is blossoming. He thought he had been savvy to her psychotic golf tendencies, but he apparently isn't.

Chad watches the stars through the wispy branches of the willow tree and feels sorry for himself. This weekend is his birthday, and this is crap.

He almost drifts off to sleep when a small voice speaks from the vicinity of Chad's chest.

Chad jerks into a sitting position, eyes wide and panicked.

A fairy clings to a willow branch directly in front of Chad's face.

"Whoa!" Chad exclaims, eyes still wide.

The fairy glares at Chad, and he can see the shadow of its tiny heart beating hummingbird fast.

"Uh, hi?" Chad asks it, backing up to give it (and himself) room.

"Young Prince," the fairy says in a small voice. And, okay, Chad's never been called _that_ before. Not even by the fairies he's spoken to before. At least he doesn't think so.

"Huh?" Chad says in return.

"Soon you will be of age," it continues. It's still clinging to a branch, but its wings are twitching. Chad can't tell if it's in annoyance or anticipation or if it's just trying to balance.

"In a year," Chad huffs. Like he needs a reminder that it's that far off. Still, he's a summer baby, so he'll be eighteen before any of his friends. He can't wait to be completely legal. The first thing he's going to do is acquire a tattoo. He has the picture of the design at the bottom of his sock drawer. It's of a star with a basketball in the center. He hasn't decided if he wants color yet, but he has a year and a location: Chad wants it on his left shoulder. He also wants to have his tongue pierced.

"When the girth of moon is visible," it says. Its heart rate has calmed significantly. Chad thinks that possibly the fairy means when the moon is full. He might be mistaken, though.

"Uh, no," Chad says. He has no idea about the phases of the moon, but right now half is showing through the willow branches. Maybe a bit more. Chad will most definitely not be of age by the time the moon is full - if that's what the fairy means.

"Yes," it says. "You and your Queen will come to us at dusk."

And it flies away.

Really?

_Really?_

Chad wonders if the exhaustion is making him delusional as well as tired.

He pulls himself up and goes inside to pass out in his bed.

\- - -

Chad is distracted all the next day. All he can think about is how messed up his life is. But Ryan and Gabriella are nice to him, so that kind of makes up for it, but it kind of distracts him more. Apparently Kelsi has this fabulous idea that will help push Gabriella and Troy back together. It involves singing, which Chad isn't as averse to as dancing, but still. At least it won't be him singing.

Chad can definitely deal if it means Troy will stop being a douche.

Chad wanders down the long driveway of Lava Springs to the bus stop. He's not sure, but he might have missed the last bus, and the last thing he wants is to call his parents at 11:30 at night.

He waits at the bus stop until well after the 11:10 is late, meaning it was early, and Chad has missed it.

He sighs to himself and takes out his cell phone.

Headlights appear on the road and soon the rumble of asphalt under rubber drowns out the sounds of the desert.

At first Chad is hopeful that it's the 11:10, but it's not. The headlights are wrong - too low with nothing up top and no lit sign for Albuquerque.

Instead of the 11:10, a yellow Mustang GT convertible pulls up to the stop.

Ryan Evans looks up at Chad from under his cap and asks Chad, "Do you need a ride?"

The obvious answer is yes, but Chad isn't sure. He's had a very strange 24-hour period.

"It's in the opposite direction of your house," Chad says, a bit stupidly.

"I don't mind," Ryan says.

So Chad shrugs and hops in. It's better than calling his parents in the middle of the night.

They ride in silence down the freeway with just the rush of the passing air as a soundtrack.

Ryan drops Chad off at his house. Chad doesn't ask how Ryan knows where Chad lives. His life is weird enough.

As Chad leaves the car he tells Ryan, "Thank you."

Ryan says, "Be careful." This only serves to confuse Chad even more. He really doesn't need this right now.

"Uh, thanks?" Chad asks.

Ryan gives him a pinched smile. "Good night, Chad."

Ryan puts his car in reverse and backs out of the driveway.

That could not have been weirder if Ryan had said "Beware the witching hour." Not that Chad expected him to say that. Of course, Chad hadn't expected Ryan to say, "Be careful," either.

\- - -

That night as Chad falls asleep a dry, desert wind picks up.

He wakes up more exhausted than when he fell asleep.

\- - -

Chad works on his birthday, and it's just as crappy as any other day at work. Even more so because it's his birthday.

Taylor has lunch break the same time as he does, and Zeke has made him a magical cupcake. It's only magical in that it tastes amazing. Chad eats it before his meal. It brightens his day just a bit. Enough so that he can make it through the second half of his day.

Chad steals the fries from Taylor's veggie burger but doesn't touch his roast beef sandwich.

Taylor wishes him a happy birthday and gives him a hug before she returns to work. She leaves him her fries. Taylor is seriously an awesome friend. Chad just mourns that he can't have all those dating benefits anymore.

\- - -

Mrs. Evans and Ryan want Chad as their caddy. Thus Chad's afternoon becomes an extravagant game of hide and seek.

All afternoon Chad feels eyes on him. It makes his skin crawl, and Chad keeps shivering in the brutal New Mexican sun.

Around the eleventh hole, Ryan comes up behind Chad and says, "There's a full moon tonight."

Chad jumps. He had not heard Ryan walk up behind him, and Chad's jumpy anyway.

"Okay," Chad says slowly, his heart beating in his throat. Ryan has been seriously weird recently.

Ryan presses his lips together and shoves his hands into his board shorts before he wanders off to look for a ball his mother had whacked into the rough.

Chad wonders when his life fell into an alternate dimension.

\- - -

Chad's palms are itchy.

The sun is slowly sinking below the mountains, and he's waiting tables. He desperately needs a ten. That's all. Hopefully before he breaks something or drops something on someone.

He manages to break away and stare at the emerging stars on the back patio behind the kitchens.

He doesn't know why but he needs to be away from all this. He wants to hear the hum of the desert, not the clank of dirty dishes. He just - he needs to be out there. In the middle of that pulse.

His feet take him there. Chad doesn't even need to think. His feet go on their own.

He's almost to where he needs to be when someone grabs his arm.

Chad looks at his arm where Ryan's pale fingers almost glow in contrast to Chad's dark skin.

"Don't let them take you," Ryan hisses.

"What are you talking about?" Chad's voice doesn't sound like it's coming from his mouth. He's still staring at Ryan's fingers, and he's still walking to where he needs to be. There is no way that Ryan can prevent Chad from being in the middle of it all, part of it all. Even if that means taking Ryan with him.

Chad can tell that Ryan is struggling to hold Chad back, but the pull of Ryan on his arm is nothing compared to the pull of the pulse. It's loud in Chad's ears, and he can feel it all over. He's so damn close even his teeth are throbbing in time.

All of a sudden everything stops, and Chad's body resonates with echoes.

The air no longer smells of sun and baking sandstone; it smells like damp earth. Chad is not accustomed to that smell. It's new.

Ryan is very close and very still; he's still connected to Chad's arm, gripping so hard that Ryan's fingernails bite into Chad's skin. But Ryan's not talking anymore.

They are in a willow grove, and the full moon is bright. It illuminates the trees and standing water.

Chad can hear nothing. For a moment he thinks he may have gone deaf, until the world explodes into a flurry of wings. They hum like insects and reflect the moonlight.

Beside Chad, Ryan sucks in a breath and squeezes harder on Chad's arm.

A fairy hovers in front of Chad. Its translucent body glows in the moonlight.

Ryan makes a small breathy sound.

"Welcome, my Prince, to midsummer," the fairy says. Chad can't read its facial expressions in the moonlight, but its voice isn't at all mocking.

Ryan makes another breathy sound, and the fairy turns to him.

"Is this your bride?" the fairy asks, flying in a lazy circle around Ryan.

Chad chokes. "Bride?"

The fairy returns to flutter in front of Chad. "You are of age on midsummer when the girth of the moon is visible. You are our prince," it explains plainly. "A prince must have a bride and become our king."

"Whoa," Chad says. Mostly his brain is still stuck on the prince part. "I'm not royalty, and Ryan's not my bride."

The fairy zigzags in the air, scowling at Chad. Its expression is so severe that Chad can see the relief of it in the moonlight.

"If," the fairy says in a disapproving voice, "this is not your bride, there is no place for him here. He must be killed."

"What?!" Chad shouts in shock as Ryan's grip tightens on his arm. "You can't _kill_ him!"

"Only under law as the prince's bride may a mortal be protected," the fairy explains. "This is a sacred place. Mortals may not desecrate our land."

"Shit," Chad mutters. He had no idea that fairies were capable of killing. In _Fantasia_, all the fairies were polite and cute. And then there were the fairies in _Sleeping Beauty_ and even _The Fairly Oddparents_. But Chad knows the world isn't a Disney film, plus he has read _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. He's also seen the movie too, but that was an accident. The movie his mother had rented was _Rush Hour_, but the DVD inside the box was _A Midsummer Night's Dream_. Chad's mother had then made Chad watch it to "culture" him, as she said. Calista Flockhart's bare chest had frightened him. Chad had been eleven.

"Is he your bride?" the fairy asks again, bending at the waist to peer at Ryan in a satirical bow. "He has a strong will. He will make a good queen."

"Yeah, yes!" Chad says quickly, desperately. "_Don't_ kill him!"

Ryan's grip on Chad's arm eases for a moment, reflexively, but it tightens again quickly when every fairy flies up to examine Chad and Ryan. Hundreds of tiny, flying fairies buzz around. Chad marvels at how none of them fly into each other. His brain is still stuck on how he's considered fairy royalty. He did _not_ see that coming.

"He is a wise choice," the fairy says.

"Our Prince has a bride!" the fairies all cheer in tiny voices. "We shall have a King and a Queen!"

Chad may have lost all the circulation in his hand - anywhere below where Ryan is attached. He can't feel anything below his wrist.

"He is our King!" they also cheer, and Chad is dizzy from watching them fly around his head and from the overwhelming insanity of the situation.

The fairies somehow coax Chad and Ryan into the pool of standing water. They are both unhappy with this.

Chad is wearing his most expensive shoes. They're shiny and black leather, and he wore them to his cousin's wedding last fall. He's also wearing expensive slacks. Although he doesn't know why he bothers to wear them, considering that almost every night he spills something on them. Chad's not a very good waiter. He's gone through three pairs of pants in two days. Now both his shoes and his pants are ruined, and his feet are cold and wet.

Ryan is wearing his board shorts and flip flops, but he seems just as upset about being forced to stand in the water as Chad is.

But the water is now warm. And tingly. It is the good kind of tingle that makes Chad feel relaxed. It's like a massage. Not at all like the pins and needles when something falls asleep.

Chad looks to Ryan for the first time since that afternoon. Ryan is very pale, almost ghostly in the moonlight. His eyes are wide, and Chad suspects that his trembling has little to do with the previously cold water. Ryan's looking at him desperately and more than a little shell shocked. His thin lips are slightly parted, and Chad has a ridiculous idea about kissing them. And it _is_ ridiculous, because this entire situation is on the absurd side of surreal. Chad has just been announced as the king of the fairies and had to declare Ryan as his bride to prevent him from being killed. Yeah. Ridiculous.

Chad is unsure what it means that Ryan's now his bride. Well, he's unsure what that means to the fairies. He's not even sure what it means that he's fairy royalty.

The tingly feeling has spread all the way up to the base of Chad's skull, and from Ryan's confused look, Chad can tell that Ryan is experiencing that same tingly feeling.

Like the pulse from earlier, the tingle is gone suddenly, leaving Chad bereft.

Except every touch Chad experiences is intense. He shudders at Ryan's touch and again at the loss of that touch when Ryan suddenly releases Chad's arm.

There are no fairies in sight, and Chad feels remarkably foolish.

"Uh," he says, unbelievably loud in the resulting silence. Not even the sounds of the desert can be heard.

Ryan frowns, looks down at his submerged feet, and scowls. "Let's go." His voice sounds rusty, as if he hasn't used it in weeks.

They walk in silence back to Lava Springs. Chad has a feeling that his ten minute break has expired several times over, and he has no idea how to explain his absence. Obviously he can't say that he was crowned king of the fairies. He doubts that will fly with Fulton. Although, Chad can imagine Fulton's comeback complete with mangled pop culture references, bulging eyes, and a ticking eyebrow.

Chad checks his watch to gage how deep he is in shit, but his watch has stopped. Chad frowns at it, trying to revive it with his willpower alone. It doesn't work. He pulls his cell phone out of his pocket only to find that too has died.

Ryan is silent in step next to him. Ryan's eyes are mostly shadowed by his hat, so all Chad can see are Ryan's lips set in a tight frown.

The only sounds that pass between them are the crunch of gravel under their footwear and an occasional squeak from Chad's wet shoes.

When the lights of Lava Springs come into view, the sounds of the desert flood Chad's skull. He has almost forgotten how much of a comfort those sounds are: there're coyotes yipping, insects droning, and poorwills gently whooping in the distance.

Ryan stops, planting both feet firmly on the ground.

Chad stops and turns to face Ryan, frowning as he does so.

"You've taken ill," Ryan says in a detached voice, "and I'm taking you home." He won't look Chad in the eyes; instead he stares over Chad's right shoulder.

Chad stares at Ryan's hat, not processing Ryan's words.

"Chad!" Ryan says sharply, finally looking at Chad's face.

Chad takes in a surprised breath and brings his graze down from Ryan's hat to his eyes. "Huh?"

"I'm taking you home," Ryan repeats, sounding less put upon than Chad would feel if he were Ryan.

"Oh," Chad says dumbly. "Okay."

Apparently that isn't the correct answer, because Ryan's still staring at Chad and worrying his lower lip.

Chad tilts his head slowly to the left. "What's wrong?"

For a bizarre moment, Chad thinks Ryan's about to cry. "We'll discuss this later." Ryan's voice wobbles a little. He then takes a step toward Lava Springs and keeps going.

Chad follows.

He follows when Ryan explains to Fulton that Chad has a stomach bug and needs to go home. He follows when Ryan goes to his car. He follows when Ryan steps out of his car and walks up Chad's driveway. Chad stops Ryan there.

"My parents won't bother us if we're in the tree house," Chad says. He's talking to his shoes but addressing Ryan.

"Your parents might not," Ryan says tightly, "but they will."

Chad doesn't even have to ask who they are. Ryan's not talking about Chad's parents. In this type of situation, Chad's unsure which option would be worst. His parents had promised him a birthday dinner over the weekend, because Chad is supposed to be at work. He can see his parents watching the news through the window. There is a helicopter shot of a car accident on the television. Chad watches it blankly for a moment. His parents will ask questions for which Chad doesn't have answers. It will be uncomfortable and awkward, and Chad will have to lie and somehow explain why he's not at work in a way that also explains Ryan's extended stay.

On the other hand, Chad doesn't have a clue what will happen if they go up into the tree house.

What breaks Chad's mental stalemate is physical: his legs are wet and cold, and his ankles are beginning to chafe.

"Okay," Chad says.

He opens the front door for Ryan.

"Chad?" his mother calls out.

"Hi, Ma," Chad calls back. He tugs Ryan into the family room.

"You're home early," she observes in a tone that insists Chad explain himself immediately.

"Uh," Chad says ineloquently.

"Mrs. Danforth, because it's Chad's birthday," Ryan steps in, "we let him off early."

Chad's mother raises skeptical eyebrows and looks from Chad to his father.

"Ryan and I have some things to discuss about the Star… Dazzle… thingy. We'll be up in my room," Chad says, steadfastly ignoring Ryan's half smug, half stunned expression the same way he ignores his mother's incredulity and his father's shock.

Chad gives them a charming fake smile before dragging Ryan from the room.

They stop in the kitchen. Chad is feeling the lunch he skipped. He grabs himself a glass of water and a leftover slice of pepperoni extra cheese pizza and grabs Ryan a glass of orange juice - the kind without pulp, not that chunky stuff Chad's father drinks. Chad would rather drink his juice, not chew it, thank you very much, and Ryan's of the same opinion. Ryan declines the pizza, though.

They head up to Chad's room. Ryan stops just inside the threshold, unsure.

"You can sit at my desk," Chad offers, pointing to his desk with his glass of water, careful not to spill. It's the only chair in the room.

Ryan gives him a closed expression before he pulls the chair out from where it's tucked under the desk. He turns it around so he faces the room when he sits down.

Chad closes the door behind them and deliberates on locking it. He decides against it. Instead, Chad toes off his shoes. He puts his food and water down on his desk before he yanks off his wet socks doing an embarrassing one-legged hop in a circle before he braces himself on the doorframe.

Ryan averts his eyes as Chad shucks his fancy slacks for a comfortable pair of sweatpants.

Chad scoops up his food and water and sprawls out on his bed, after relocating his glass of water to his bedside table. He nibbles on his pizza. It's cold, and Chad briefly wonders if he should have stuck it in the microwave. Chad looks to Ryan, who is delicately sipping at his orange juice. Chad gives up his pretenses and shoves this slice of pizza into his mouth, devouring it as quickly as possible. He's _hungry_.

"The Star Dazzle Award?" Ryan asks wryly with a hint of amusement.

Chad shrugs. "My parents know that we're trying to get Troy and Gabriella back together with that award thingy, so…"

He and Ryan don't say anything for a long time after that. Eventually Chad caves.

"Do you know exactly what happened?" Chad asked.

"No," Ryan answers softly. "I was hoping you did."

"Oh," Chad says, because he doesn't know what else to say.

They lapse into silence again.

The house phone rings. Chad ignores it. It won't be for him anyway. Everyone who would call knows that he should be at work, and those at work know that he went home "sick."

He and Ryan continue to not talk.

"Chad!" His mother's voice echoes up the stairway. "Troy's on the phone!"

Chad frowns as he picks up the phone next to his water glass. There's no reason for Troy to call.

"Hello?" Chad asks into the phone.

"Chad?" Troy asks, seemingly confused by this. "I heard you went home sick."

"Yeah," Chad says. He looks to Ryan, who is still not looking at him.

"Your Mom said that they let you off early because it's your birthday," Troy continues. "Are you okay, man? I mean, you lied twice." Troy is just concerned with Chad's wellbeing. Chad counts this in the plus side for Troy shaking free of his current douche-y tendencies.

"I'm not sure, man," Chad says honestly. "I need to talk things over with Ryan, and I'll let you know."

Chad doesn't miss that Troy chokes when Ryan is mentioned nor does he miss the thin tone Troy uses when he says, "Okay. Uh, Gabriella, Taylor, and I were planning on taking you out after work, you know, as a surprise. I guess we'll have to surprise you another time."

Troy and Gabriella are talking again? When did this happen?

"I guess," Chad says calmly, even though he feels anything but. His pulse is racing, and he's full of adrenaline. Just talking to Troy has triggered Chad's fight or flight reflexes, and Chad's unsure why.

"Cool. Let me know if you need help," Troy says in a way that means he'll be there for moral support should Chad have his heart broken, which, frankly, doesn't do anything to settle Chad's nerves.

"I'll, uh, okay?" Chad says.

"Okay," Troy says. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye," Chad says and hangs up when Troy parrots it back.

Ryan lifts his eyes to meet Chad's. "I guess that means we should talk about this," he murmurs.

"I don't know where to start," Chad admits. "No, wait. I do. How did you know this was going to happen?"

Ryan licks his lips and frowns. "They…" He falters and looks away. "They've been planning this for a while," Ryan confesses.

Chad is barely able to keep himself from shouting at Ryan. "What the fuck?!" he hisses dangerously.

"They talk to me when I need time away from Sharpay," Ryan says quietly.

"You've known about the fairies for that long?" Chad demands, bolting upright on his bed.

"Chad," Ryan says carefully. "There's no such thing as fairies."

"Didn't we see those flying things?" Chad bites out. "Fairies."

Ryan shakes his head. "Fairies come from Europe," he explains slowly. "These are not from Europe."

"What are they, then?" Chad says snippily.

"I don't think they have a name," Ryan says. He sets his glass down and sits on his hands. "They're old, though. I sometimes call them duendes, sometimes sidhe, but that's not their name."

"How do you know that?" Chad demands.

"I can use Google, you know," Ryan says conversationally.

"And you talk to them?" Chad asks skeptically.

"So do you," Ryan shoots back calmly.

"What?!" Chad exclaims, nonplussed. There is no way that Ryan should know that.

"You've spoken to them," Ryan elaborates. "You have all your life."

"How would you know?" Chad barks, jumping up to his feet.

"Some of it - They told me some of it," Ryan says, looking up at Chad defiantly. "Some of it was inference. They told me how exciting it was that their prince would turn seventeen while at Lava Springs - not in those words of course."

"Of course," Chad says snidely. He then sits back down on the bed with a scoff.

Ryan glowers at him. "If you're going to be snide about it, I can leave, but you're the one who dragged me - quite literally - into this mess and declared me your _bride_. Your bride, Chad!"

"Would you have preferred that I let them kill you?!" Chad growls. He sits on the edge of the bed, leaning forward with both feet planted stubbornly on the floor. He narrows his eyes in anger. Ryan surely cannot be upset about not being killed.

"For all we know, you might have done just that," Ryan says. He looks straight into Chad's eyes when he says it, refusing to look away. He's right, though. Chad has no idea what is going on and neither does Ryan, but that's not stopping anything from happening.

Chad's head is spinning. "You tried to stop me," he accuses.

"Yes," Ryan says. "I did."

"Why did you try to stop me?" Chad crosses his arms.

"Have you ever read any of the real fairy tales?" Ryan asks, cocking his head to the left.

"Of course," Chad scoffs. He has no idea what this has to do with Ryan wanting to stop him, but of course he's read fairy tales. He has a book of them on his book shelf. It's buried under his CD collection, but it's there, and he's even read through them a couple of times.

"I don't mean Disney," Ryan clarifies. "I mean Grimm, Yeats, and _The Faerie Queene_."

Chad frowns. He totally understands why Disney doesn't count, he really does. He just hasn't heard of the examples Ryan gave.

Ryan purses his lips. "Not all fairies are good," he explains. "I think it's smart to be wary. Don't you think it's strange that fairies need a human to be their king?" He pauses. "You are human, right?"

Chad's mouth drops open in shock. He doesn't know how to answer that - or if he should. Because as far as Chad knows, he's human. However, he's also fairy royalty. He's not sure if that means he's still human. He feels the same, but what if he was never human to begin with? What if he is a - what're they called? - a changeling? He looks like both of his parents, though. Could his parents be fairy royalty, too? Chad's not sure that he likes his train of thought.

"Chad?" Ryan prompts. He looks concerned. "That wasn't supposed to be a difficult question."

"Of course I'm human," Chad says tersely.

Ryan has such gall to look at Chad incredulously.

"I am!" Chad insists.

"But you had to think about it," Ryan points out with a frown. At least he's not mocking Chad. Ryan takes his hands from where he was sitting on them and folds them in his lap. He stares at them.

"I - " Chad starts, but he doesn't know how to finish. Instead he asks, "What do you think all this means?"

"I don't know," Ryan whispers. "Most stories say don't mess with the fairy queen, but they made you king. There usually isn't a king in those stories."

Chad voices an obscure thought: "If you're my bride, does that make you the fairy queen?" He snorts in amusement, pinching his lips together to keep from laughing outright.

Ryan scowls deeply, and Chad thinks he is also grinding his teeth, which means that Chad is completely thrown when Ryan says, "Of course. Everyone knows I'm the Queen of the Fairies, especially in school. Just don't tell my sister, she'll try to steal my crown. Although, she'll look nowhere near as fabulous as I do in a rhinestone tiara. But there was that one time she stole my favorite hat and Bedazzled it."

Chad has no idea what Bedazzled means. He blinks heavily as Ryan smiles and laughs heartily.

Ryan reins in his laughter to say, "That was a joke, except for the fact that she did Bedazzle my favorite hat. I needed to give it a proper burial. It was tragic."

Chad blinks heavily again.

"You have no idea what Bedazzle means, do you?" Ryan asks, peering at Chad with a shy smile.

Chad shakes his head slowly.

"Don't worry about it," Ryan says. "That's not what's important here."

Chad will take Ryan's word for it. He doesn't know, maybe whatever Bedazzle is could cure cancer. He doubts it, but Chad was crowned king of the fairies not three hours ago - anything is possible.

"Now what?" Chad asks, looking at Ryan's hands in his lap.

"Now we ask around," Ryan says. "Sharpay has an extensive social network. I'm sure someone knows what's going on."

Chad nods tersely. "I'm sure someone does, but do you have to involve your sister?" he whines.

Ryan frowns in response. "I didn't say anything about involving her. I just said she has a big social network. She's constantly leaving her phone in strange places. I can download her contacts into my phone."

"You know how to do that?" Chad asks, a little awed, a little skeptical.

Ryan shrugs. "I know a guy."

"You have a social network, too?" Chad asks dumbly, shifting on the bed.

"Not the, uh, same kind as my sister," Ryan blushes as he says this.

For a moment, Chad is unsure why Ryan would be embarrassed by social contacts, until Chad makes the connection that there might not have been actual socializing going on.

"Does that bother you?" Ryan asks. He's worrying his lower lip again.

"Uh, which that?" Chas asks. "That" could mean anything from Sharpay's social contacts to Ryan's, uh, carnal contacts to Chad being the fucking king of the fairies.

"That I know a guy," Ryan clarifies quietly.

"What? No!" Chad says quickly. "That would be - I'm - You're my bride, Ryan," he follows up ineloquently.

"So that they wouldn't _kill_ me," Ryan reminds him.

"Everybody knows you're… gay," Chad says delicately.

Ryan raises an eyebrow. "That's not what I asked." He pauses to frown. "I'm sorry if that bothers you, but you're just going to have to deal. You dragged me into this."

Chad's gaze drops down to the floor. "It's not you being gay that bothers me," Chad starts. "I'm just - Tonight has been really weird."

Ryan examines Chad, clearly unimpressed.

"I don't know why I dragged you into this," Chad admits. "I just - I needed to be in the center of everything. There was a pulse." Suddenly feeling foolish, Chad stops attempting to explain. "I'm sorry."

"A pulse?" Ryan encourages Chad to continue his explanation.

Chad nods, still not looking anywhere but the floor. "The desert has a pulse," he says quietly.

Ryan leans forward slightly. Chad can hear the movement of fabric even though he refuses to look.

"A pulse or a rhythm?" Ryan presses.

"A pulse," Chad says. "Like a heartbeat."

Ryan makes a soft, understanding noise.

"I couldn't stop. I didn't want to stop," Chad finishes.

"Chad," Ryan says. His voice is comforting, and Chad is confused. "It wasn't you. It was something bigger than you."

Chad's eyes shoot to Ryan's. "What? God?"

"No," Ryan says slowly, eyes locked with Chad's. "Old magic. They need you for something. That's all I know right now. I just don't know for what."

"They need me," Chad echoes.

"Maybe they just need a human," Ryan says, bringing the conversation back to where it has been before. "Any human. And you happened to be available."

Chad grunts but otherwise says nothing. He doesn't know what to say. Chad looks to the side - out the window. He can see the willow tree illuminated by the full moon. A shiver races up his spine.

Ryan's phone chirps, and Chad's head jerks back to look at him.

Ryan flicks his phone open with a thumb and frowns at what he sees.

"I need to go," he says. There's a rushed feel to his words.

"Uh," Chad says. "I'll, uh, see you out." Chad doesn't really want to deal with his parents, which is what he will end up doing by seeing Ryan out, but his parents raised him to be polite to guests, and that includes walking them to the front door when they leave. Ryan is his bride, whatever that means, and his parents also raised him to be polite to whomever he dates. Of course his parents are blissfully unaware of that last part. Thank God. However, his parents are undoubtedly curious as to what he and Ryan were discussing while Chad should have been at work. They want to know what is so important that Chad had been given the night off.

Chad sees Ryan out.

On the front stoop, Ryan turns to Chad and smiles thinly. "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks, man," Chad says back automatically.

Ryan tips his hat and heads out to his car. Chad closes the door with a soft hiss, an exhale of a breath he wasn't aware he had been holding.

"Chad," his mother says behind him. Her voice is stern.

Chad jumps and turns around guiltily to face his mother.

"Troy said you went home sick," she says stonily.

"Uh," Chad says, feeling trapped. He contemplates an escape but knows his mother would never let that happen.

"Well," she insists, folding her arms across her chest.

Chad wilts. All of his energy from the past few hours drains away, and he slumps as he plops down on the third stair up on the staircase. He drops his chin to his knees and wraps his arms around his legs, holding himself at the wrists.

His mother sighs and sits down next to him.

"What's wrong?" she asks. She doesn't put her arm around Chad's shoulders. He's spent seventeen years shrugging it off.

"You mean the new stuff from today?" Chad mutters bitterly.

"We can start with that if you'd like," she says.

"Oh," Chad says. He doesn't know where to start. He can't tell his mother the truth: she'd institutionalize him. Chad plans on graduating high school, and being institutionalized would stand in the way of that plan. He isn't going to plod his way through over a decade of schooling just to be denied that one crucial year. Hell freaking no!

"How about you start with why Ryan drove you home from work, then you can explain why you've lied to me and your father and your friends," she suggests. She's not unkind about it, but she is firm. There is no way Chad will be able to squirm out of this.

"Uh," Chad says. He honestly has no idea what to say, and he's glad that his father is elsewhere. That way he doesn't have to explain it to more than one person, which is a relief, but he'd rather not have to explain it at all. And he doesn't even know what "it" is.

"Ryan?" his mother prompts.

"I - I don't know how to explain it," Chad says eventually.

"Your pants were wet," his mother states.

Chad looks down at his pants. These pants are dry. "Yeah, my pants were wet," he agrees. "There was this incident," he continues, "with a pond."

His mother makes a small, amused sound.

"It's not funny!" Chad states indignantly. "Mom!" he whines.

"No, you're right, it's not funny," his mother agrees. Chad can tell that she's trying really hard not to laugh. "You were caddying for Mrs. Evans again, weren't you?"

It's such an easy out. He had caddied for Mrs. Evans earlier. It had nothing to do with his wet pants, but he had caddied.

"Yeah," Chad says like it's not a lie, because it isn't. It's just not the reason his pants were wet.

"See?" His mother bumps his shoulder with her own. "That wasn't so difficult."

Chad grunts. It can be taken as agreement.

"There's more pizza in the fridge if you're hungry," she offers. She then pushes herself up and leaves Chad sitting on the stairs.

\- - -

That night Chad dreams of Ryan. Chad can't see his face, but he knows it's Ryan. Ryan sits on the top of a sandstone cliff, his legs dangling off the edge. He's dressed in pink from hat to flip-flops. He's also wearing a pair of wings made from tulle and stretched over wire. They're pink with silver glitter to give them the look of butterfly wings. The last time Chad has seen a pair of wings like this it was Halloween and his ten-year-old neighbor had dressed as a fairy princess.

Ryan looks back at Chad and smiles. It's the most honest thing in Chad's life in ages. There's an ache in his chest, and Chad doesn't know where it came from or what it means.

"I can fly," Ryan says. He turns to look out over the canyon.

"No, you can't," Chad wants to say, but his tongue is stuck to the back of his teeth.

Ryan pushes himself off the cliff, and Chad panics. He runs to the edge; it's like running through water, and he has to push himself hard to run those few feet.

But Ryan's already gone.

Chad looks over the edge. All he can see are the pink wings at the bottom of the canyon.

An evil creature appears from behind a rock to claim the wings. It doesn't _look_ particularly evil: Chad just _knows_. Its features are blurred in that way dreams are, and the creature has no face that Chad can focus on. But those are Ryan's wings. They're pure, and only Chad has permission to touch them.

He can't call out to the evil thing, and he can only look on in horror as it begins to tear the tulle wings into shreds.

Not seeing an alternative, Chad jumps off the edge of the cliff.

\- - -

Chad is actively avoiding Ryan, but he doesn't have to work that hard at it, because Ryan is avoiding him as well.

Chad expects something out of the ordinary to happen.

It doesn't.

\- - -

Chad keeps waiting for something to happen. He's on edge and jumpy.

Right before the dinner rush, Taylor takes him out to the patio to sit him down. There's a bench in front of a tree that's fairly secluded.

"Spill," she demands. She gives him a severe look, and Chad thinks twice about feigning innocence.

Deciding against it, Chad looks at his feet.

"Why are you acting all weird?" she asks. Her voice is softer, but it's still a demand. "Why is Ryan avoiding you? You'd better not have messed this up."

"What?" Chad asks, shocked. He looks up at Taylor. "Messed what up?"

"Your friendship with Ryan," Taylor says. "He's helping you - all of us - with Troy and Gabriella. He doesn't have to, you know."

Chad blinks heavily. "Oh. I know."

Taylor raises her eyebrows incredulously.

"It's not - It has nothing to do with that," Chad says and immediately realizes his mistake.

"What does it have to do with?" Taylor asks. She sounds half concerned and half suspicious.

Chad's unsure how to answer.

He must have a trapped look on his face, because Taylor says, "Is it - oh."

"Oh? What does 'oh' mean?" He doesn't like Taylor's tone.

"I'll tell you when you're older," Taylor says with a smirk and everything clicks into place.

"Oh," Chad echoes vaguely, followed by, "Oh! Ugh, Taylor!" Chad stares at her, horrified.

Taylor smirks back.

"You are - are a vile, yucky perv!" Chad exclaims.

"Yucky?" Taylor repeats dryly.

"You accuse me of wanting to sex up Ryan and then think I'm juvenile for calling you yucky?" Chad says, his voice rising in volume.

"Sex up?" Taylor repeats, then giggles. "I suppose I have cooties, too."

"Oh, real mature, McKessie," Chad mutters.

"You're the one avoiding the issue at hand," she retorts.

"Yeah," Chad challenges. "And what's the issue?"

"You're avoiding Ryan. You're jumpy. You're paranoid. You're - "

"I get the point," Chad interrupts hastily.

Taylor gives him an unimpressed look. "Well?" she asks flatly.

"It's - it's very complicated," Chad admits.

"Complicated how?" Taylor prompts.

"I'm not just saying that to avoid talking about it," Chad whines.

"I'm really good with complicated ideas, Chad," Taylor says.

"I know, Tay, I know. It's - I'm not sure what's going on, and I can't really talk about it without, you know, sounding clinically insane," Chad admits softly.

He knows that he shouldn't tell Taylor anything. He knows this. But Taylor is ace at research and could prove to be a powerful ally in understanding what is going on. Plus, Chad's not sure if involving Taylor in all this would be a good idea, because maybe down the line he might have to declare Taylor his bride to keep her safe, and Chad's unsure how fairies view bigamy. He doesn't want to put either Ryan or Taylor in a position where either one of them could be hurt to keep the other safe. Chad doesn't think he'd be able to decide between the two of them.

Taylor gives Chad an appraising look as dry as the Sahara, and Chad knows he won't be able to weasel his way out of this.

"I'd have to check with Ryan first," he relents.

Taylor doesn't say anything in response. She stares at him for a good long time, long enough for Chad to feel ridiculously uncomfortable.

"Chad," she says slowly, stretching the short 'a' for more than its worth.

Chad frowns at her. "What?" She already has his undivided attention.

"There's - you have a…" She points to her shoulder and rotates her finger in a small circle.

"What?" Chad looks to the shoulder she indicated. There's nothing there. He looks to his other shoulder, and jumps, screaming, "Christ!"

The branch by Chad's head has a fairy on it.

"Who is she?" it demands.

"She's Taylor," Chad says hotly. "Leave her alone!"

Taylor stares with her mouth hanging open unattractively. A soft click emits from her throat. Chad ignores it, not taking his eyes off of the fairy.

The fairy peers around Chad to look at Taylor. "She is not your bride. Where is our Queen?"

Taylor clicks again.

Chad's unsure how to answer, mostly because he doesn't know what the fairy expects. Is Ryan supposed to be with Chad at all times? Is Ryan supposed to be Chad's bitch? Chad can't imagine Ryan as anyone's bitch, with the exception of Sharpay.

"Why?" Chad demands.

The fairy doesn't answer. Instead, it says, "You will both make exceptional warriors," which is pretty damn cryptic. And it flies off.

Taylor stares at Chad as Chad scowls at the cloudless sky.

"Chad?" Taylor asks breathlessly. "Is _that_ what you were talking about?"

Chad looks back down to Taylor. The afterimage of the sun blots out her face, but Chad knows she's shocked.

"Yeah," Chad mumbles.

"I thought that you guys had fumbling first-time sex and things are now awkward," Taylor says. "That - that thing - "

"Fairy," Chad corrects.

"Fairy," Taylor parrots vaguely.

"Fumbling first-time sex?!" Chad repeats, outraged.

Taylor ignores Chad's offence and says, "This doesn't explain Ryan." Her voice is back; there's still a waver of disbelief.

"Uh," Chad says. "That's the complicated part."

"Not the - the fairy?" Taylor asks incredulously.

"No," Chad says. "That's the clinically insane part."

"Oh," Taylor says in a small voice, then, "Oh! Oh, my God!"

"What?" Chad asks suspiciously.

"The… fairy asked where your bride was. That's Ryan," Taylor realizes. She looks to Chad for an explanation. "Why is Ryan your bride?"

"It's really complicated," Chad says. He doesn't look at Taylor.

"So you've said," Taylor says in a deadpan.

"I really need to talk to Ryan about - "

"Chad, you've been avoiding him - "

"The dining room's open. I need to - "

"We'll talk about this later," Taylor says firmly. She doesn't say anything else as Chad runs back into the kitchen.

\- - -

Chad is stuck serving Ryan and Mrs. Evans. It's at the tail end of his shift, and Mrs. Evans invites him to join them.

Chad freezes up. He can feel Ryan's eyes on him. Hell, he can even feel Kelsi's eyes on him, but her fingers don't miss a note on the piano.

"That's very nice of you, Mrs. Evans," Chad says politely. "But I couldn't impose."

"Nonsense," Mrs. Evans waves off. "Join us!"

Chad looks back and forth between Ryan and his mother. Ryan looks mildly horrified, and his mother looks determined.

"Yes, ma'am," Chad says. He sits down heavily. "Should I take your orders first?"

"No, no," Mrs. Evans says. "Jason will be our server. Jason! Come take over for Chad!"

Jason looks up from the table he had been bussing. He looks really confused but says, "Okay."

Mrs. Evans orders a chicken wrap, and Ryan orders a Caesar salad. Chad declines to order, even when Mrs. Evans presses him. Chad does cave enough to order a Sprite.

Ryan smirks behind his hand. Chad shoots him a dirty look. He's not sure if it's because of the name or because Chad has given in.

"Now, Chad," Mrs. Evans says, and Chad is instantly wary. "Everyone knows that Troy scored that winning basket." Chad feels the loathing settle in his stomach. He does not want to talk about Troy. "But Ducky says you had the assist."

Oh.

"That's right," Chad says slowly. He doesn't look at Ryan or Mrs. Evans or Jason when he delivers their drinks. He does look at the tablecloth. There's a yellow stain that's probably as old as Chad is. It's tiny and sort of looks like a smiley face if Chad squints.

"Why do people not know this?" Mrs. Evans asks indignantly. "You're the real star."

Chad stares at her. He wants to tell her that the recognition is great, and yeah, it would be awesome to end up on a Wheaties box, but it really doesn't matter in the scheme of things. He wants to have fun playing the game. He knows the odds of being drafted into the NBA: he calculated them himself when he was twelve. He doesn't want to be in Troy's position - He doesn't want to be _that guy_. He's not the star and doesn't like the limelight. And he has no idea how to explain this to someone with such a public family.

Luckily, Chad doesn't have to answer, because Mrs. Evans goes on a diatribe about credit where credit is due. Chad figures her question was mostly rhetorical anyway. At least he now knows where Sharpay learned it from. But then she asks, "Where are you thinking about attending college?"

Chad knows it's not socially appropriate for him to say, "Wherever I'm accepted." So he doesn't. Instead he says, "I'm applying to U of A and some small schools on the East Coast."

"The Redhawks could use a player of your caliber," Mrs. Evans says decisively. "But what do you want to study?"

"I haven't decided yet," Chad admits. The entire exchange is so damn _normal_ that Chad is almost thankful given the past few days. Hell, given the past few hours. "I'm looking at Communications or Foreign Policy."

"Are you looking to become a politician?"

Ryan sniggers, and Chad shoots him a look.

"I was thinking about being a diplomat or working for the CIA or something," Chad says with a blush. So far everyone's reactions to him admitting those career goals are to giggle at him and call him a spy. Or to giggle at him and tell him that he needs diplomacy to become a diplomat. Troy is still coming up with ridiculous codenames, not that Chad's not currently on speaking terms with Troy, but whatever.

"That's fascinating," Mrs. Evans says. "Ryan didn't mention your career ambitions. He's told me a great deal about your basketball skills, though."

Ryan gives her a mutinous look.

"If you're looking for a summer internship, a friend of the family works with the FBI. I know it's not the CIA, but if you're free one summer, I don't think she'd mind," Mrs. Evans continues on as Jason drops off their meals. "Now Ducky here…" She keeps going. Chad tunes her out, because Ryan is shooting Chad careful looks and moving his salad around the bowl without looking at it.

His eyes look sad, and his nose is sunburned.

Chad frowns speculatively at Ryan. He doesn't want Ryan to be sad.

"Mom," Ryan says slowly. "Chad and I need to talk."

Mrs. Evans gives Ryan a look that possibly means something between the two of them. "Of course. Do you want me to keep your salad?"

"I'm not that hungry," Ryan says softly, looking at the tablecloth.

"Okay," Mrs. Evans says and probably means something else.

\- - -

Ryan leads them into a room Chad hadn't known existed. There are plush couches and mirrors everywhere. As well as gossamer curtains of various pinks and purples. It doesn't take much for Chad to figure out that this room was commissioned by Sharpay, but that doesn't explain why Ryan dragged him into it. What happens if Sharpay burst in with, like, the vapors or something?

Ryan and Chad stare at each other for an uncomfortable moment before Ryan says, "I spoke with my friend."

"Yeah," Chad says.

Ryan continues as if Chad hadn't said anything. "He's a classics major at U of A." He looks directly at Chad and waits for him to acknowledge, which he does by nodding. "I also spoke with a local historian." That must have been why Chad hadn't seen Ryan yesterday.

"Okay," Chad says.

"There was an Irish population here back in the '50's," Ryan explains. "They must have brought those guys over. Whether they meant to or not, Tony said that what we saw sounds similar to the tales of the Unseelie Court, except for the midsummer part."

"Wait. Wait," Chad says. "What? _What_?"

Ryan gives Chad a bland look. "CIA? And you can't pick up on this?" he asks flatly.

"The CIA deals with people," Chad protests. "People behaviors."

Ryan rolls his eyes. "Either way we look at it, this is a very bad thing."

"How so?" Chad demands. He crosses his arms and glowers at Ryan.

Ryan takes a deep breath. "There are two fae courts: the Seelie and the Unseelie. The Seelie Court is made up of good fae, and the Unseelie Court is made up of evil fae. That's probably why they were so eager to kill me," he concludes disdainfully.

Chad stares at Ryan blankly before blurting out, "I'm the king of the evil fairies? What the fuck?!"

Ryan purses his lips. Chad is unsure if it's to keep him from laughing or scowling.

"What? No, really," Chad says hotly. "_What_?!"

"Tony said the Unseelie might need someone born on midsummer so they could war against the Seelie on their turf," Ryan says slowly. "The Seelie hold court during the summer, and the Unseelie rule the winter."

"Shit," Chad says vehemently, falling onto the couch.

Ryan frowns outright and stares pointedly at Chad until he continues.

"I was outside talking to Taylor earlier," Chad says. "A fairy came up to us, wanted to know where my bride was, and said we would make good warriors."

"Oh," Ryan says faintly. "That can't be good." He sits down next to Chad.

"I don't want to be a fairy warrior," Chad says.

"Neither do I," Ryan says. He buries himself into Chad's side. Chad doesn't think anything of it. He wraps an arm around Ryan's shoulder, and that's the way it is.

"I couldn't stop myself before," Chad reminds him. "What if that happens again?"

Ryan is silent for a moment before he says, "I don't know."

\- - -

The next night is the Star Dazzle Talent Show thing. It goes as pretty much as planned, with the unexpected bonus of Ryan winning without competing. He's ecstatic, because it means his sister is growing as a person - Ryan's words, not Chad's. Chad is happy that Ryan is happy.

Taylor corners Chad after the performance.

She doesn't have a chance to say anything before fireworks explode in the air over their heads, and Troy and Gabriella usher them out onto the golf course to see the display clearly. They're back to being sickeningly sweet with each other, so Chad counts it as a win.

Taylor's by his side again, and it feels wrong. She watches the display as Ryan stands on his other side, flagged by Martha, and that makes Chad feel worse. Angry. Ryan is his - his bride.

That thought shocks Chad back to himself.

He runs out over the field, and everyone follows with the exception of Troy and Gabriella.

The wind picks up, blowing dry air across the golf course.

Beneath the bang of the fireworks, there's an undertow.

Chad can feel the pulse of the desert creating a backbeat for the fireworks.

The sprinklers go off, and it's a relief.

Ryan forcibly pulls Chad away from Taylor. He doesn't even offer an explanation or an apology. Chad doesn't expect him to, either.

\- - -

They stop underneath a willow tree by a watertrap.

Chad can still feel the pulse of the desert. His heart beats in tandem. It's - this is the way it's supposed to be.

The wind calms down. The willow branches still around their shoulders.

Chad stares at Ryan, not sure what he's seeing. Ryan looks perfect under the waning moon. The branches of the willow cast shadows across Ryan's face. They're close, but not close enough for Chad's shadow to block the fireworks from illuminating Ryan's face. The fireworks also reflect off the pond, but Chad's not interested in that.

"Chad," Ryan says. His voice is rough. "I feel the pulse."

Chad nods. He can feel it too, but he focuses on Ryan's parted mouth.

"It's doing strange - Chad, I feel funny," Ryan says with a frown. He takes a step closer to Chad.

"Ryan?" Chad asks. Ryan is right there. If Chad wants to take, it's his for the taking. The problem is… Chad wants to take. It would accelerate that pulse.

"So take," Ryan says.

Chad hadn't realized he had said that aloud.

But then Ryan's hands frame his face, fingertips brushing behind Chad's ears, and he's kissing Ryan desperately. His brain is five steps behind his body. Chad's fingers tangle themselves in the hem of Ryan's shirt, pulling him closer. As close as possible.

They pull apart reluctantly at the sound of a throat clearing.

At first Chad thinks that Taylor followed them. The girl glaring at them is taller than Taylor - by a lot. She's taller than Chad, too. Her hair's down, and she's wearing a long green dress, as far as Chad can tell. It's dark out, so her dress may be blue and not green, but whatever. Her limbs are long, almost willowy. Chad doesn't remember her being a guest - or on staff - at Lava Springs.

"This is most unbecoming of royalty," she says. Her voice is musical and ethereal.

Chad's brain grinds to a halt. Well, that explains why he doesn't remember her from Lava Springs.

"Uh, who are you?" Ryan asks. His voice is rough, and Chad thinks with pride that gravel is his doing.

"My name does not matter to my enemy," she says coldly.

"Your what?" Chad asks blankly, realizing that his voice is just as gravely as Ryan's.

"You defile my home," she continues.

"Your what?" Chad repeats.

Ryan crowds Chad's space, lining up his shoulder with Chad's arm. Their fingers touch at the tips, but neither of them winds their fingers together. Ryan's presence next to him is reassuring.

"Hmm," the girl hums at them. "You are both human?"

"Yeah," Chad says cautiously.

"This is unusual," she says. She walks up to them, staring at Chad.

"You're telling me," Chad mutters.

She stops, and she's way too close to Chad. Her face is ridiculously smooth. It looks airbrushed. And Chad realizes what she is. The knowledge is tapped out in the pulse.

"You're a dryad!" he accuses.

Chad feels Ryan jolt, his fingers jumping against Chad's palm.

"Hmm," she hums again. "You."

"What?" Chad asks.

"You have spoken to me before." She's talking to Ryan, not Chad. Okay, that's weird. Maybe that's why Ryan is close to Chad and jumping at every little thing.

"Why have you become royalty?" she asks.

"I'm not sure," Ryan mumbles.

"You will not survive this war," she states. "This is not a war for humans. Yet you are royalty."

This would be a great time for questions - and an even better time for answers, but Chad's a little stunned that Ryan knows this chick - dryad, whatever. Chad had thought that the only fairies were the little transparent guys with the wings. It's kinda strange, because if Chad had any other conversation with this girl under any other circumstances, he would have thought she was human.

"Come with me," she says. It's an order. Chad's unhappy with that.

She holds out her hand, and Ryan takes it, much to Chad's chagrin. Even more upsetting is Ryan tugging at Chad's hand.

The world doesn't so much as disappear as it twists and dumps Chad on his ass, pulling Ryan off balance as well. Ryan doesn't go down, though. He steadies himself before pulling Chad back up.

Chad releases Ryan's hand so that he can brush himself off.

The world smells different. Like rain on hot sand. There's also something heavier in the air. Chad doesn't know what it is, but it's a comforting smell, warm. It also helps that Ryan is directly next to him, and Chad can smell the sweetness of Ryan's shampoo. The shampoo feels out of place, and it makes Chad's eyes burn a little.

Ryan clutches at Chad's hand again, refusing to be separated. Chad's a little more comfortable knowing that Ryan's just as out of sorts with this situation as Chad is. Except that Ryan's squeezing so hard that the bones in Chad's hand grind together.

The world looks different, but not completely so. They're no longer on the golf course. It takes a moment for Chad to realize that this is what New Mexico looked like before people. There are no buildings, only a spattering of pale trees against the darker sandstone, and tall pale grasses under the waning moon.

There are tiny lights flickering just above the grass. Chad has never seen a firefly before - except in the movies. But they look like fireflies. He didn't think there were fireflies this far into the desert.

They're beautiful. He wants to catch one. To see one in his hand.

The girl beckons them towards the fireflies, wading through the tall grass.

The lights follow them. And Ryan won't release Chad's hand. It's weird. Both the lights following them and Ryan holding on tight. Chad doesn't want Ryan to let go. He feels that if they break contact, Ryan will float away and never come back. Chad tightens his grip on Ryan's hand.

There is a light close enough for Chad to see. It's not a firefly. It's a tiny lantern. It's a tiny lantern being carried by a tiny fairy. It's not the same as the ones Chad's seen before. It doesn't look like Tinkerbell. Or, like, Shakespeare. It looks eerie in the strange lighting. It's not transparent, for which Chad is grateful. He can't tell what color the skin is, but it looks to be the same color as the grass �" like camouflage or something. It's bald, but it's wearing leaf clothing, and it might have hair under the petal hat it's wearing. It's kinda gaudy, but Chad thinks that if Ryan were that small, he'd totally wear it. The wings are there, but they're beating too quickly to see.

They end up in the general vicinity of the Lava Springs buildings. If there were buildings. Now it's a flat expanse of moss and trees and other green things that Chad doesn't associate with the desert. The air is damp as well as cool. Chad's sure that his hair has reacted to the humidity.

With his free hand, Chad touches the bead of his necklace reassuringly before subtly checking the frizz level of his hair.

Ryan snorts in amusement. Chad slides his eyes over to Ryan, who has a tiny smirk.

The girl stops and turns to them. "Stay here."

She leaves them standing in the middle of a clearing in what appears to be an apple orchard.

Chad looks to Ryan again. He almost risks asking what the hell is going on, but he's pretty sure Ryan doesn't know either. He's pretty sure no human knows what the hell is going on.

Ryan gives his hand a squeeze. Chad thinks that Ryan might say something, but Ryan thinks better of it or something, because he says nothing.

\- - -

The girl returns, but not before they attract a crowd. There are tiny creatures gawking at them. It's dark, and Chad can't look at them properly. But they're not the sort of creatures that one usually comes across in the desert. And they're sure as hell not going to be found in any science textbook. One looks kind of like a lumpy potato with stubby little arms and legs.

"Shoo," the girl says to the creatures. "You are indecent, gawking like a bunch of clurichauns." Whatever that is. She flaps her hand at them as they scatter. "They have never seen the Queen of Air or the Winter King before." Chad can hear the capital letters. Again: what?

"The Queen of Air?" Ryan asks.

The girl looks at them. "You have much to learn." She says it in a fond, almost grandmotherly way. "The Queen is ready to meet with you."

She leads them from the clearing into another one.

The clearing is illuminated with the lanterns that the fairies had been carrying. The creatures that had gawked at Ryan and Chad fill the sidelines of the clearing, amongst the shadows of the trees. Chad feels their eyes follow them as they walk to some weird flowery throne. There are flowers on the throne, sure, but it's made from deer antlers. Or something's antlers. There aren't many deer around. At least Chad's never seen a deer. He saw an elk once when his family went on vacation to the Grand Canyon. Maybe there are elk around here too.

Chad can't see the face of the girl on the throne, but her white dress is familiar.

The light finally hits her face, Chad's reaction is visceral.

"Holy shit!" he whispers fiercely. "Gabriella?!"

"Hello, Chad. Hello, Ryan," Gabriella says. Her voice sounds different. There's less of a screechy edge, and it's kinda musical, like she's singing the lower notes - smooth. Her voice is smooth. And musical and ethereal. Like the dryad.

Gabriella stands up to join them.

"Uh, what?" Chad asks. Ryan has been suspiciously quiet. Maybe he's just in shock. If not, that leaves two other options: he wants Chad to do the talking or he already knows. "My life has been weird enough lately. Can someone please explain what the hell is going on?"

The dryad speaks up. "How dare you speak to the Queen that way!"

Okay, so maybe Gabriella really is the Queen. Which begs the question how is Gabriella the Queen followed quickly by _why_ is Gabriella the Queen? And now that Chad's thinking about it, Gabriella's totally a Disney princess complete with the entourage of little, woodland creatures. He's able to clamp down his inappropriate giggling.

"It's okay," Gabriella says.

"Gabriella," Ryan says softly. "Did you know this was going to happen?"

Chad had no idea to suspect that, but apparently Ryan had and judging by Gabriella's slight flush, he is right to suspect.

"I tried to warn you, Ryan," she says. There is a bit of a whine to her voice that's a remnant of the Gabriella Chad knows.

"Whoa," Chad says. His hands fly up, palms facing Gabriella. "You warned him?! Why didn't you warn me?!"

"The baseball game, Chad," Gabriella explains.

"If you were speaking in Girl, I don't understand that language." Chad realizes that this isn't the best time for sarcasm, but he's way out of his league here.

There's a growl and an agitated murmur from the crowd.

"I will not explain my actions in front of the court," Gabriella says sternly. Chad's never heard her use that tone before. It sounds like she has a backbone and a bite. "Let's talk somewhere private."

She holds out her hands.

Ryan grabs her left hand, and Chad hesitates before he grabs her right hand. He braces himself for the world spin-y thing again.

\- - -

It doesn't happen.

The forest is there one moment and the next they're in Gabriella's room. At least Chad thinks it's Gabriella's room. He's never actually been there before.

"Please sit down." Gabriella's voice is back to normal. Or at least what Chad's come to think of as normal. It's giggly and high but serious. Chad's head is swimming, and Ryan is very close to him. That part is nice.

They sit at the foot of Gabriella's bed.

Gabriella sits at her desk, turning the chair around to face them.

"Seriously, Gabriella," Chad says. "What the hell?"

She sighs. "Ryan was supposed to stop you."

"What now?" Chad blurts.

"I asked him to stop you from going out on your birthday," Gabriella admits. "The back-up plan was the party we had planned."

Ryan nods to confirm.

"You said you figured it out on your own," Chad accuses.

"Gabriella told me to go find you," Ryan says softly. "To stop you. She didn't say why, though."

"Seriously, Gabriella," Chad says. "How exactly did you warn me at the baseball game?"

Gabriella gives him a calculated look. "I told you to stick close to your friends."

"And I was supposed to know that meant not to go running off with Ryan into the open arms of the _evil fairies_?" Chad sneers.

"I couldn't have told you exactly that," Gabriella protests. "You would never have believed me."

"So you're queen of the good fairies," Chad says slowly. "Can I call you Glinda?"

"No, Chad," Gabriella says exasperatingly, but it's also fondly. "She was a witch."

"Is Troy the king of the good fairies?" Chad just has to know. It's bad enough that he didn't know this about Gabriella, but if Troy has been - Troy's his brother.

"Troy doesn't know," Gabriella says quietly, not looking at Ryan or Chad.

"Good," Chad says. "I guess."

"Is that why you always move around?" Ryan asks. How much does Ryan know about Gabriella that Chad doesn't? Not that most of it is important, but it would be nice to have foresight instead of hindsight.

"Yes," Gabriella breathes out. "I'm… I've looked sixteen for the past three hundred years. People talk."

"You look good for your age," Chad blurts out wryly.

"Thanks, Chad. But I don't want to discuss this. We need to discuss the war."

"Everyone's been talking about this war," Chad grumbles.

"Because there's a war coming," Gabriella says. "From your side."

"My side?" Chad frowns.

"And Ryan's now," she amends sadly.

Ryan's thigh bumps Chad's, and Chad places his hand on Ryan's knee and squeezes reassuringly.

"I'm hoping we can resolve this without a war," Gabriella says. "However, that seems unlikely."

"How?" Chad asks. "They were more than willing to kill Ryan." Chad doesn't like how pained his voice sounds when he mentions Ryan's death threat.

"But you stopped them," Ryan reminds him.

"They should listen to their Winter King," Gabriella says. She doesn't really sound sure.

"You don't sound sure," Chad points out.

"That court is unpredictable and dishonorable," Gabriella explains. "I do not trust their word and neither should you." She pauses to study Chad carefully. "No, there will be a war regardless of what you say.

Chad nods with a tight frown. That is not what he had wanted to hear.

Ryan knocks Chad's knee with his own.

"You two are Bonded," Gabriella says, obviously surprised and a little flustered. "I thought your closeness was the natural progression of your friendship."

"Bonded?" Chad repeats. "What the hell is Bonded?"

"That tingly feeling," Ryan whispers.

Chad stares at Ryan for a moment before saying, "Well, fuck." He's bewildered, and it shows on his face. Ryan mirrors his expression. "What exactly does that mean?"

"Exactly what it says: you and Ryan are now Bonded. You need to be together, and when you're not, you feel that absence and need to rectify it," Gabriella says, a little sadly.

"Oh." Chad's mouth forms the letter. He looks to his hand still on Ryan's knee, and he jerks it away quickly.

Ryan scowls at him and adjusts his hat.

"How, uh, how permanent is this?" Chad asks uneasily.

"This is magic, Chad," Gabriella points out. "I mean that in the most literal sense."

"So…" Chad trials off, waiting for Gabriella to fill in the blank. He thinks he knows the answer. He just doesn't want it.

"It's a forever permanent," Ryan says confidently.

Chad realizes that his hand is back on Ryan's knee. He doesn't bother to remove it.

"You're not exactly human anymore," Gabriella says. "Either of you. I'm so sorry."

She gives them both a moment to think about what she's dumped on them.

"What do you mean by that?" Chad asks suspiciously.

"You're like me," Gabriella says.

"Seventeen for the next three hundred years?" Chad demands. "I have plans for my eighteenth birthday!"

"You'll still turn eighteen, you'll just look the same," Gabriella explains patiently.

"Will I be this horny for the next three hundred years?" Chad asks snidely, mostly to fluster Gabriella.

She doesn't fluster. "Your physiology will change, but the increase in libido you feel will be tied to Ryan. It's part of the Bonding."

Chad looks to Ryan. Ryan's biting his lip, and it's distracting.

"The immortality will sink in soon," Gabriella says sagely. "It's sad to say goodbye to friends."

Chad doesn't ask another snide question that involves walking away from Troy again. Despite the fact that Troy was an absolute douche and Gabriella can't be blamed for walking away this time. Next time it could be when she still looks sixteen and Troy is pushing thirty. That's a terrifying thought, and Chad is sorry that it popped into his head.

"What do you know about this war?" Ryan asks. He's putting on an innocent front. One Gabriella can clearly see through.

"It's exactly what you think it is," she says, waving a hand through the air as if that explained everything. "They want the summer back. It's been a while since they had absolute power. They want it back."

"I understand that," Ryan says, a bit irritated. "But that doesn't explain why they chose Chad. He doesn't exactly scream Evil Fairy, let alone King of the Evil Fairies."

"Thanks," Chad responds dryly.

"But it's true," Ryan points out. "You're not evil or a fairy."

"Chad was born on midsummer and came of age on midsummer," Gabriella explains.

"That's enough to make him the king?" Ryan asks skeptically.

"There is also a little bit of believing in fairies. They could never have made you a Royal if you didn't believe."

Chad blushes, and he blushes even deeper when he realizes that they'd been recruiting him from the start. He wishes he had known this _before_ he had gone this far. Maybe he should have told someone about all the times he had seen the fairies.

"Chad?" Ryan asks, concerned.

"I'm fine," Chad responds tightly. "Except I don't know why I didn't know about this before."

"I'm telling you now," Gabriella says tartly. "I don't have to, because we are rivals now, Chad." That's not news to Chad. Now they're rivals on a somewhat larger scale than her dating his best friend.

"Okay. Then how do we fix this?" Chad grumbles.

"Fix what?" Gabriella asks. "There's nothing to fix. This is the way things are."

"But why can't they be changed?" Chad persists.

"They can't, Chad," Gabriella insists.

"Has anyone ever tried?" Chad shoots back.

Ryan snorts, and Chad turns to frown at him. "What?"

"You want to change the status quo," Ryan says with a little laugh that's too high to be humorous.

Chad rolls his eyes anyway. "I don't want to fight Gabriella. You know, in a _war_." Great. Now Chad's defensive sarcasm is coming out to play. Not a good sign. But he's just learned a lot about how much his life is going to suck from now on - and for a very long time. And how he's dragging Ryan along for the ride. That's not fair to Ryan.

"Try talking to your court," Gabriella suggests. "Negotiate with them. It will only validate my response."

"Fine!" Chad surges to his feet. He looks down to Ryan. "Come on."

"They wanted to kill me, Chad," Ryan reminds him, looking him dead on. "Because I was mortal."

Chad winces. He hears what Ryan doesn't say: that neither of them are really mortal anymore.

"How do you expect to get there?" Ryan asks.

"I - Oh. Gabriella? How do we go back to Lava Springs?" Chad asks almost sheepishly. He tries very hard not to be embarrassed.

Gabriella stands up, smoothing out her dress. "Take my hand."

Chad and Ryan do so.

\- - -

Chad lands on his ass, and he knows that Gabriella did it on purpose. She's passive aggressive like that. It's just buried deeply under that Disney princess personality.

"Do you know where to go from here?" she asks in a businesslike tone.

"Yeah," Chad mutters as he lifts himself from the ground.

Ryan doesn't even bother to give the pretense of helping. Chad supposes Ryan has the right to be upset: he's in this whole mess because Chad literally dragged him into it. Chad's going to keep beating himself up over it until this entire thing is over, no matter how many hundreds of years that may take.

"Ask them what happened to their last King," Gabriella says. And if Chad didn't know that she's all sweetness and light, he's swear that she has an evil streak. Seriously. Two passive aggressive statements in, like, two minutes.

He opens his mouth to tell her off, but she's gone.

Ryan's there, though. He looks spooked and resigned and tired.

"I'll drive you home," he says. His voice is flat and empty, and that worries Chad the most.

"Okay," Chad agrees. He feels like he needs to keep Ryan with him where it's safe. "Let me grab my bag out of my locker."

Ryan nods.

Chad checks his watch as they amble back to the buildings. It stopped at 10:52 pm, and the digital readout is blinking at him. He takes his cell phone out of his pocket, and it's fried. Again.

Ryan looks over to him. "The fae don't like metal."

"Oh," Chad says.

\- - -

The fluorescent lights in the hallway are harsh on Chad's eyes, and he squints all the way to the locker room. The only way he knows that Ryan is with him is the soft squeak of his shoes and just the knowledge that he is _there_. Like the pulse: he can feel it. Like the drums on the cannibal island in the second _Pirates_ movie. The drumming becomes white noise after a while, but it's still there. Chad knows this the same way he knows that Ryan is next to him and that he has ten fingers.

Chad is able to grab his bag without running into anyone. And they're almost out of the building when they run into Troy and Gabriella joined at the hip and hands.

Chad is sure they're talking to him: their lips are moving, but his brain is stuck on the fact that he needs to fight her in a probably bloody war, yet she's acting like Chad is her best friend. She's his immortal enemy. Chad didn't even know there were such things.

Ryan picks up Chad's slack, carrying the other side of the conversation before he drags Chad out to the parking lot.

\- - -

Chad's mind catches up to the present when they're halfway to his house. "Why does everyone think it's inevitable that we ended up together?"

Ryan doesn't answer him. Ryan looks straight ahead.

"Ryan?" Chad prompts. It's barely loud enough to hear over the passing air.

Ryan's tongue darts out to wet his lips, except it whets Chad's libido too. He attempts to clamp down the flood of adrenaline and arousal.

Chad leans back in the car seat and tries not to look at Ryan. "Your silence means you know," he points out.

"Yes," Ryan says eventually, tersely. "I do know. The point is that you weren't."

"I wasn't what?" Chad asks, looking to Ryan again.

"Supposed to know," Ryan says resignedly.

"About?" Chad prompts, because he wants something concrete to latch onto, not this wishy-washy political crap that Ryan is trying to feed him.

"Isn't it obvious I don't want to answer?" Ryan snaps. He grips the steering wheel tightly.

"It's bad to start off our eternal, immortal lives together with you lying," Chad says. He means it to be light, but it ends up heavy and melancholic.

"Chad," Ryan sighs. "You were _never_ supposed to know. It's a secret, not a lie."

Chad humphs and stares off to the side of the road that passes in a blurred line.

"And apparently it was obvious to everyone but you," Ryan mutters.

"Look," Chad grumbles back. "We just spent, like, a minute talking about how you don't want to talk about it. Can't you just, you know, put it all out there at once? Like ripping off a band-aid."

Ryan mumbles something.

"That's not yanking it off," Chad states. "That's peeling it back painfully slow."

"You metaphor needs work," Ryan says dryly, even though it totally doesn't, because it's an awesome metaphor. Pros use that metaphor. And it's completely beside the point. Ryan's definitely deflecting.

"Ever so slowly," Chad continues, knowing how annoying he is.

And it works, because Ryan huffs and says, "Fine." He just doesn't say anything after that.

"Well?"

"I had a crush on you," Ryan says through clenched teeth.

"Oh. Okay," Chad says. "Was that it? Totally not worth freaking out over." He smiles.

"What?" Ryan says, clearly in a bit of shock.

"I mean, the way you were going on about it, I thought that you sacrificed puppies and kittens to some Pagan gods or something."

"What?" Ryan repeats. "You're not freaking out about it? You did earlier."

"There's really no point," Chad says with a shrug. "I mean, we're Bonded for the rest of forever. It seems kinda small in comparison."

"Oh," Ryan says ineloquent. "I suppose it does."

\- - -

Chad and Ryan stare up at the tree house.

"We don't have to do this now."

Chad's not sure if he said that or if Ryan said it or if Chad just thought it and thought he had said it.

"You should know who you rule over," Ryan says.

That means that Chad was the one who said it.

"Will it make a difference if I find out now or if I wait until I've had a decent night's sleep?" Chad poses it as a question, but his mind is already made up. He's pretty sure that it's almost two in the morning, and he's exhausted. He also needs to be at work in six hours. The only light on in the neighborhood is the one lighting the front step. It's _late_.

"You're not going to have a decent night's sleep tonight," Ryan says. Ryan promises. He's still staring up at the tree house, and there's just enough light to highlight the chords of Ryan's neck.

Chad swallows hard and hopes he's not misreading the signs Ryan's giving him.

"Shouldn't we be at your place then?" Chad asks bravely.

Ryan turns to face him. He's grinning.

"I mean," Chad fumbles. "I don't want to wake my parents."

Ryan's grin doesn't fade when he says, "I know you own bandanas. They work really well as gags. But my place would probably be better."

Chad nearly swallows his tongue.

\- - -

Chad jolts awake. His eyes refuse to focus and one side of his face is flattened from being smushed against the table he had apparently passed out against.

He blinks a few times, and Taylor comes into focus. So do the three giant tomes she dropped inches from his face.

"Long night?" she asks. Chad is awake enough to register the sarcasm in her voice.

He grunts at her, which isn't a yes but also isn't a no. Taylor knows this as well, Chad can tell.

"You have twenty minutes left on your lunch break, and - "

"Good," Chad grumbles. "Let me sleep through them."

Taylor huffs and sits down next to him. "Not going to happen, sweetheart."

"But sleep!" Chad protests.

"As I said, there are twenty minutes for us to discuss this situation," Taylor says relatively patiently.

"What situation?" Chad asks groggily. His brain still isn't up to full speed, and Taylor's talking in riddles and pronouns.

"The one with Ryan," Taylor says in a stage whisper.

Chad blushes.

Taylor frowns at him. "No!" she exclaims quickly. "Although, I was totally right about that. I was talking about the warrior situation."

"Oh." Chad sits up very straight and wills himself to focus. "Shouldn't we discuss this with Ryan?"

Taylor arches an eyebrow incredulously.

"No, really," Chad says. "Ryan should know this too."

"I wanted to run this by you before Ryan," Taylor says in a low voice. "He's the Queen of Air and Darkness!" Chad's heard that before, but his brain is still behind. He's heard it recently, too.

"Dude, what?"

"Did you miss the Darkness part?" Taylor continues, her words picking up speed and urgency. "This isn't going to end well."

"No," Chad says in response to both of Taylor's remarks. He then takes a closer look at the book on top of the pile Taylor dropped. "D&amp;D? Seriously, Taylor, I knew you were a nerd, I just never knew how much."

"Focus, Chad," Taylor admonishes. "In every lie there's a grain of truth, okay?"

"D&amp;D is a lie?" Chad asks, trying to frustrate Taylor so she'll let him go back to sleep.

"It's fiction, made up, not real," Taylor says. "A lie. But it looks like it's not so much a lie as a stretch of the truth. Have you read _The Once and Future King_? I know you haven't read _Le Morte d'Arthur_."

"Uh?" Chad responds.

Taylor gives him a measured look. "Right. You're allergic to books."

"Am not," Chad shoots back halfheartedly. Taylor knows his GPA. That's not really what they're sniping about.

"Do you know about Camelot?" she tries. "Arthur. Knights. A table that's circular? Ring any bells?"

"There's no need to be snooty," Chad says primly.

He reaches for the Dungeons and Dragons book and flips it open to the page Taylor had bookmarked. There's an illustration of a pale woman with long, dark hair wearing a black dress. The heading on the page informs Chad that this is the Queen of Air and Darkness.

"She doesn't look like Ryan," he quips.

Taylor growls at him. "It's a D&amp;D book. Obviously there's a picture of an attractive woman. Mostly boys play D&amp;D."

"Mostly guys play, yeah," Chad agrees distractedly. He's more interested in what she has to do with King Arthur, so he asks.

"Morgan Le Fey is the Queen of Air and Darkness," Taylor says. "She cast a spell on Arthur to seduce him. I'm not saying Ryan's going to do that or even if he needed a spell for what you two got up to last night. I don't even know if there's such a thing as spells. The point is that you're Arthur - or Arthur's son. I'm not sure about this one - and he's, for all intents and purposes, Morgan Le Fey."

"Taylor," Chad starts. "I don't want you involved. Uh, you may be compromised?" He'll think about all that King Arthur stuff later.

"Compromised?" she repeats dryly. "I spent the past two days researching this. I am moments away from telling you that Morgana is blamed for all the evil races of fae, and you tell me I'm compromised." Taylor is really impressive when she's angry.

"Blamed for - oh," Chad realizes. "Oh. That's bad. What part did Arthur play in this?"

"He sired the man who killed him. Legend varies, and none of it's good. None of it ends well for Arthur," she explains, placing a hand over his. "I thought you should be aware of that before you become a warrior."

Taylor is more observant than Chad has given her credit for and much more than he is comfortable with. Those are dangerous observations she's making, too. Not just the ones having to do with Chad becoming one of Ryan's carnal contacts. Chad doesn't want to have to choose between her and Ryan. He knows that the Bond will ensure he chooses Ryan. That's not fair to Taylor, who's looking out for everyone's best interests.

He doesn't know how all of this information fits together and applies to him, but Taylor is thorough when she does her research. Chad doesn't doubt that it will end up applying to his situation, but he's pretty sure Taylor doesn't know about Gabriella. That would make for some horribly awkward conversation.

"Did it mention anything about a war?" Chad asks.

"No," Taylor says. "Not that I could find, but I did find something else of note that I should tell you before Ryan."

Seriously, Chad's done listening to Taylor talk about Ryan being evil. Especially when Chad is the King of the Evil Fairies or whatever.

"In a newer version of the Arthurian legend, Arthur's and Morgana's son is Lancelot's lover. I don't know if that has anything to do with the war, but the Winter King was kinda a bloody warrior."

"Oh," Chad says. Then he remembers where he heard about the Queen of Air and Darkness and the Winter King. It had only been the night before. To Chad's credit, a lot had happened between then and now.

"Is that your think-y face?" Taylor teases.

Chad breaks out of the stare he hadn't realized he's been in the middle of. He doesn't respond, though.

"We can talk about this later." Taylor looks over Chad's head to something. She squeezes his hand then leaves.

Ryan sits in the seat she abandoned.

"You were late," he says after a moment. "I came to see why."

"Sorry," Chad says. His hands want to be on Ryan, just to affirm his presence. Chad has been fighting it all morning, but now… Ryan is right _there_.

Chad shifts uneasily.

"My mother and sister are waiting for you," Ryan says. He smiles and continues with a slight laugh, "I should say that my mother is waiting for you and my sister is admiring her new golf shoes."

Chad snorts in amusement. There's nothing like a shot of normality in his life to make everything seem a bit less bizarre.

"Come," Ryan says. He stands and holds out a hand for Chad to take.

Chad grasps it tightly enough to feel all the delicate bones in Ryan's hand.

\- - -

Gabriella is frowning at Chad. She has been for the past minute or so, and it's starting to make Chad's skin crawl.

Troy sits next to her, whispering into her hair, not caring about the rest of the party going on in his living room. Chad's not sure if Troy's noticed that all of his girlfriend's attention in on Chad, but it seriously needs to stop.

When Ryan hands Chad a Pepsi, Gabriella says something to Troy before she strides over to Chad and Ryan to forcibly escort them out into the backyard.

She checks to make sure that there are no eavesdroppers before she hisses at them, "Why did you consummate your Bond?"

Chad's glad for his dark complexion and the darkness of dusk, because it feels like his face is on fire. All of his blood raced to his cheeks. On his face.

"Gabriella!" Ryan exclaims.

"This could have been undone if you hadn't consummated," Gabriella continues fiercely. Chad's never seen her upset before. "Ryan could have been able to escape this."

"And you felt the need to not tell us this because…?" Chad asks sarcastically.

Gabriella hmphs and looks away. It's more reminiscent of Sharpay than of Gabriella.

Chad can see Troy watching them from a window. He frowns at the three of them, but as near as Chad can tell, Troy can't see them that well. Not that it's sight that's the problem. As long as Troy can't hear what they're discussing, it's fine.

Then Taylor joins Troy at the window. Troy may not know what's going on, but Taylor sure as hell does. Chad knows that Taylor can be discrete, but she also knows that Gabriella has no reason to speak privately to both Chad _and_ Ryan. Taylor's going to figure Gabriella out if she hasn't already.

"I needed to do a little research," Gabriella says, blushing a little.

Chad can feel eyes watching them and not just from Troy and Taylor.

Ryan slides his fingers between Chad's. "I really don't mind," he says.

"What?! That's just the Bond speaking," Chad admonishes. "You really don't want to be stuck with me literally forever!"

Ryan squeezes his hand. "We can talk about this later. We're being watched." He nods to the window. "Troy already suspects me of trying to steal Gabriella from him. Really, Gabi, you should help him read the manual that came with his gaydar."

Chad snorts and knocks his shoulder to Ryan's. "Do you mind if I out us to Troy?" He's keeping two huge secrets from his best friend, who has finally decided that being a douche really isn't his style. If Chad can bring the number of secrets down, he'd feel a lot better.

"If you think that will help," Ryan says. He doesn't look at Chad, though.

Chad lifts their joined hands and points to them so that Troy can clearly see.

Troy blushes and disappears from the window. Taylor only raises an eyebrow and shakes her head at them, whatever that means.

"Uh," Chad says. "I'd better go find Troy." He should really think some things through before he acts on them. He breaks free of Ryan and goes back into the house. He's very much aware that Ryan and Gabriella stay outside.

\- - -

Troy is sulking in the bed of his truck.

Chad hops in there with him despite Troy's protests.

"Ryan's not trying to steal Gabriella out from under you," Chad says.

"Yeah," Troy mutters. "He stole you instead. I knew something was up on your birthday when he brought you home."

Chad doesn't bother to correct him. "A lot is going on now, man," Chad says instead. "And things are gonna get a lot weirder." Troy gives him a quizzical look, so Chad adds, "Like college."

"I'm going to follow her," Troy announces. "Wherever she ends up going to school."

That seems a little creepy, but it's not like Troy is Bonded to Gabriella. Although, who knows, that might be a possibility.

"Don't say that," Chad says instead. "You have no idea where she could end up. What if it's, like, an all girls school?"

Troy snorts, and Chad realizes that this is a normal conversation. It feels like someone punched him in the gut. Troy's going to age, and Chad isn't. They're not going to sit on the porch of their nursing home together and shake their canes at the hooligans passing on their skateboards. Or have a scene like from _Grumpy Old Men_.

"Are you okay with me dating Ryan?" Chad asks. He tries not to be embarrassed by the multiple cracks in his voice that have nothing to do with him dating Ryan. It doesn't matter if Troy is okay with it or not. Nothing is going to change the fact that Chad and Ryan are now Bonded.

"Can't you just tell me next time?" Troy complains.

"You were a little busy," Chad reminds him dryly.

"I'm sorry," Troy says for the thousandth time in the past forty-eight hours.

"Things right now are a little crazy," Chad says. He and Troy are talking about two different things, but Troy doesn't know this. Chad wants to keep it that way.

"They'll settle back down," Troy assures him.

Chad sighs. "I'm not just talking about you and Gabriella," he says sourly. He knows he should back away, but sometimes his mouth is a fraction earlier than his brain. He tries to amend this by saying, "I'm going to head back to Ryan. You're free to sulk here some more if you'd like."

Chad volts over the side of the bed of the truck. His feet hit the pavement with a dull thwack. He thinks about the pavement and how it disrupts the flow of the desert.

"I am sorry, Chad," Troy says. "And I'm okay with you and Evans."

Chad looks to Troy. "I know, but not everything is that easily fixed."

Chad's not talking about Troy anymore. Maybe he should clarify. For Troy's benefit.

\- - -

Taylor and Ryan are waiting for him just inside the door. Neither of them looks particularly happy. In fact, just the opposite. It really looks like an intervention. Chad's pretty sure he hasn't done anything to merit an intervention, though.

They escort him into Ryan's car, and they drive out to Chad's house.

His parents raise their eyebrows but don't object to all them piling into Chad's room. Chad's pretty sure it's because they all look like they have something serious to discuss.

"What's going on?" he asks finally.

Ryan and Taylor sit on the bed and look to each other before looking to Chad.

"I did some research," Taylor states.

Chad knows this.

"There's definitely more to this whole thing than you both think," she continues.

Chad looks at her expectantly and tries not to pace the length of his room. It's a close thing.

"What I saw," Taylor says, a bit hesitantly as if trying out a new language for the first time. "I saw doxies."

"Now, Taylor," Chad says condescendingly. "It's not nice to talk about cheerleaders that way."

Taylor scowls at him. "How do you even know that word?"

"I'm a man of many hidden depths," Chad says arrogantly.

"The _fairies_ I saw," Taylor clarifies in a crisp tone, "were doxies."

"Are we talking Harry Potter, fumigate the curtains doxies?" Chad asks.

"Yes," Taylor says.

"Oh," Chad says. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Of course it's bad," Ryan snaps.

"What do you know about doxies?" Taylor asks. "Not including Harry Potter."

"Uh," Chad says. "Not much. Or anything."

"They're nasty," Taylor says. "And they're a lower caste of fairies. They're not the ones in charge."

"Well, that's not good," Chad says.

Taylor gives him a withering look.

Chad needs to sit next to Ryan. He needs to touch Ryan.

"I'm not exactly sure of everything that's going on," Taylor says, ignoring Chad. "And I need to know how Gabriella knows about this, too."

"Uh," Chad says at the same time Ryan coughs suspiciously and looks away.

Taylor jumps to her feet. "Boys," she says in a low voice.

"She's pretty intense when she's mad," Chad says with the air of someone who's been in this situation more than once, mostly because he totally has. "You talk to her." He places an arm around Ryan's shoulder.

Taylor raises her eyebrows and gives them a superior, knowing look. It's kinda annoying.

"Gabriella's the Queen of the other court," Ryan explains.

"Other court?" Taylor repeats wryly.

"We're - Chad and I - are the Royals of the Unseelie. Gabriella's the Queen of the Seelie," Ryan clarifies.

"Hold up," Taylor says, holding up both her hands, palms facing Chad and Ryan. "You're telling me this is Irish?" Chad has no clue how Taylor fits all this random knowledge in her head - or how she can recall all of it.

"You're telling us it's not?" Ryan poses.

"That's exactly what I'm telling you," Taylor says fiercely. "We live in New Mexico. _New Mexico_. What is Irish about New Mexico? Very little. There was a tiny Irish population here a while back, yeah, but that's not going to usurp thousands of years of the native tribes. What I think is going on is a like a melting pot of cultures all combined into one heterogeneous soup, like what our history teachers keep saying. All these cultures become one giant super-culture. It's not just one culture."

"Whoa," Chad says. "Native tribes? Like Navajo?"

Taylor nods and sucks her lips between her teeth, exposing her dimples. "But it's not only Navajo," she says. "This place was also a trading place for the plains tribes and Mexican tribes."

"Whoa," Chad repeats. "You lost me. What does this have to do with the courts?"

"Do you pay attention at all whenever a teacher talks about New Mexican history?" Taylor patronizes. Chad can tell it's totally rhetorical, but whatever. "Or global history?"

She looks to Chad expectantly.

"Pre-Columbian civilizations were conquered by the Spanish, who were later conquered by the English," Ryan says. "Kinda."

"And now the US is this giant heterogeneous society," Taylor says with a nod.

"What does that have to do with fairies?" Chad asks, feeling completely lost and kinda ridiculous for stringing all those words together in a sentence.

"The dominant society absorbs the mythology of the conquered society, making it their own," Taylor says somewhat crazily. Her hands are making strange, dramatic movements. Chad frowns at them.

"So…" Chad prompts.

Taylor rolls her eyes then looks Chad dead in the eye, bending slightly at the waist. "You're not just the King of the Irish fairies: you're king of _all_ the mythological creatures in the area." She gives Chad a moment before continuing. "You've taken up the role of the king of the Irish, British, Mexican, Navajo, Ute, Mollogon, _everyone's_ mythological creatures. And I swear, Chad, if you make one joke about chupacabras, I will slap you."

She looks serious, so Chad doesn't push it. He says, "Oh."

"You know nothing about any mythology," Taylor states. She doesn't even bother posing it as a question.

Ryan is very still under Chad's arm. Chad looks over to him with a frown.

"Ryan?" Taylor asks.

"Remember when we had that Ancient America projects in middle school?" he asks hesitantly. Chad most definitely does not remember a project in middle school. He barely remembers projects he had last year. Taylor nods, and Ryan continues, "I researched Aztec gods and goddesses. Gabriella �" she fits the description of one of them."

Chad was not expecting that.

"She said she was only three hundred years old," Chad says.

"What?!" Taylor shouts before slapping a hand over her mouth and staring at Chad and Ryan in shock.

"No, she didn't," Ryan counters, leaning into Chad's side. "She said she looked sixteen for the past three hundred years."

"Gabriella - my friend Gabriella, who's dating your friend - is three hundred years old?" Taylor asks breathlessly. Then, "Shit."

Chad jerks to attention. He's never heard Taylor curse before. "What's wrong?"

"When was Mexico settled by the states?" she asks vacantly.

"1912," Chad answers automatically.

"No," Taylor says. "That's when it became part of the Union. I mean when were Americans first physically in New Mexico?"

Chad shrugs. "Maybe the mid 1700's. Maybe earlier."

"Which was almost three hundred years ago," Ryan points out, almost whispering it into Chad's ear.

"It's ridiculous to assume that the US adopted Mexican deities," Chad says flatly.

"Chad," Taylor says slowly. "It's not. It's happened before."

"What do you mean by that?" Chad demands.

"Back in the beginning of Christianity, Pagan traditions were adopted into the Christian holidays. The Pagan holiday Yule is the reason we have Christmas trees." Seriously, how does Taylor know all this?

"You know a lot of random things," Chad says, because it beats thinking about how bizarre his life has become.

"Chad, this means your friend is dating an Aztec Goddess," Ryan says in a very understated way.

Chad can't help it: he laughs.

Ryan and Taylor stare at him.

"We have to fight an Aztec Goddess for control over her Irish fairy court," Chad says. "That's more than a little ridiculous. Plus, we have no proof."

"What goddess does she remind you of?" Taylor asks Ryan.

"Her name was Xochiquetzal," Ryan says. It sounds like a bunch of gibberish to Chad. "She's the goddess of music, art, beauty, flowers, and butterflies. And other things like child birth."

Oh, my God! Gabriella was a Disney princess back before Disney! …If this is all true.

"That explains Gabriella's obsession with butterflies and Troy's rooftop garden," Taylor says thoughtfully. "And why she always signs her notes and emails as XO."

"No," Chad says firmly, clearly the only sane person in the room. "You did not just rationalize that."

"I think she did," Ryan says. Chad doesn't have to look at Ryan to know he's smiling. It's annoying.

"Where did the XO come from? XO means kisses and hugs," Chad says. Troy totally explained that to him in middle school.

"It's also the first two letters of her name," Taylor says.

"That's a stretch," Chad huffs.

"You've apparently seen fairies for years," Taylor says dryly. "How is this a stretch?"

Chad scoffs but doesn't verbally respond.

"What else is there, Taylor?" Ryan asks.

Taylor sighs. "There's a lot more. About Camelot."

"Camelot?" Ryan repeats. "They had nothing to do with the Aztecs."

Chad snorts in amusement. Finally, Ryan is starting to see the insanity in this situation.

"New Mexico," Taylor says flatly. "And that's English you're speaking."

Chad snorts again.

"The Queen of Air and Darkness," Taylor says commandingly. "Sound familiar?"

Ryan frowns in concentration. "How do you know about that?"

Taylor rolls her eyes. "I've been doing research. Anyway, as far as I can tell, the Queen of Air and Darkness is only a title. Obviously, as Ryan is not female."

"What's the job that goes with the title?" Ryan asks cautiously.

Taylor takes a deep breath and picks up Ryan's hands to hold between her own.

"Taylor," Chad warns. He's more worried about Taylor's hands on Ryan than why she's touching him. Chad knows in his head that Taylor isn't a threat, but it's not his head that's reacting.

"Ryan, you are now in charge of all that is evil in the world," Taylor explains softly, as if that softens the blow. It really doesn't.

"The world?" Chad chokes out.

Ryan stares at Taylor, his eyebrows twitch into a frown. "Could you have sugarcoated that?" His voice is hollow, shocked.

"That was me gaining your attention," Taylor says, not sounding the least bit sorry.

"You already had it," Chad bites back.

Taylor gives him a severe look before she says, "Morgan Le Fey, the Queen of Air and Darkness, is blamed for all the evil fae."

"What does that have to do with Camelot?" Chad grumps.

"What does… Morgan Le Fey was Arthur's half sister," Taylor explains exasperatedly. She lets go of Ryan's hands. Ryan places one of his hands on the inside of Chad's thigh. _That_ is very distracting.

"Okay," Chad says. "She was evil?"

"Yes," Taylor says.

"That means Ryan's evil," Chad continues.

"…I'm not sure," she admits.

"Who's the Winter King, then?" Chad asks.

"Morgan Le Fey's and Arthur's son," Taylor explains, rocking back on her heals.

"Ew! They're related and slept together… wait. Does that mean Ryan's my mother?" Chad's sure he looks properly horrified.

"Only by title. This has to do with magic, not lineage," Taylor says, faltering a little bit over the words then mutters something about Oedipus. "Um. The important part is…" She doesn't continue.

"What?" Chad prompts. He's tired of this. "What's the important part?"

"The Queen of Air and Darkness uses the Winter King to kill Arthur and take over Camelot." Taylor doesn't look at either of them as she says this.

Chad stares. "Um, out of curiosity, is Troy King Arthur in this metaphor?"

"This isn't a metaphor," Taylor snaps. "This is myth from centuries ago, that according to that legend, already happened. And may continue to happen. But as far as I know, Troy isn't involved. Although, I didn't know about Gabriella until tonight. I did this research based on that doxy and the warrior comment."

Chad's kinda ridiculously impressed with Taylor. He's pretty sure that's why they started dating to begin with. Other than the Troy's-doing-it-I-should-too part.

"What's Camelot?" Ryan asks softly. "In our situation, what's worth Chad killing over?"

"Avalon," Taylor says, speaking as if she just realized it herself.

"What's Avalon?" Chad asks. Why do they not teach important things like this in school? This applies to Chad. He'd totally pay attention to it.

"Avalon's where Arthur was taken after his son mortally wounded him," Taylor explains. She stands up and leans against Chad's desk.

"I don't see how that's worth killing over," Chad says.

Taylor looks pensive. "No, I don't think that's what - It's an island where Morgan Le Fey lives - or lived. If - I'm just throwing out ideas here - what if it no longer belongs to the Queen of Air and Darkness? What if the Seelie - that's what you called them, right? - What if they have control of that island and the Unseelie want it back?"

"The Unseelie want it back?" Chad asks incredulously before turning to Ryan. "I thought you said it had to do with wanting to take back summer."

Ryan starts. "It - maybe it's both?"

Chad hopes it's a straight forward reason. "What else do you know about Avalon?" he asks Taylor.

"Apples grow there," Taylor states with a shrug. She knows it's a random detail, and Chad can determine from there that Taylor's already fired the big guns.

"Apples?" Ryan repeats.

"Yes, apples," Taylor says.

Chad looks to Ryan, who looks right back.

"Fuck," Chad announces.

"What? Why fuck?" Taylor demands.

"We've been there," Ryan says. "We were there last night."

"You were on an island last night?" Taylor parrots in a deadpan, raising only one eyebrow. "While you were at the Star Dazzle Award Show?"

"No," Chad says with a shake of his curls. "It wasn't an island, and it was after the show."

"I thought you and Ryan went off to make out under a tree," Taylor says dryly.

Chad blushes. "That's, uh, what we were planning to do."

"We ended up in Avalon," Ryan says, trying out the words.

"I don't understand…" Taylor trails off.

"It's here," Chad says. "But not?" He has no idea how to explain the world going slightly out of focus and how it always ends with him on his ass.

"It's another plane," Ryan cuts in.

Taylor makes a strange click in her throat.

"Sorry, Taylor," Chad says sheepishly.

"Have I mentioned how weird this is?" she asks.

"There's no need," Ryan says. "We already know."

"This is all speculation, you realize," Taylor has to throw out. She always has to qualify any statement she's not one hundred percent sure about.

"Of course," Chad agrees and tries to think of a way this all makes sense.

\- - -

Chad doesn't fall asleep until the sun rises in the morning.

Ryan is on the other side of town. Chad's pretty sure he doesn't sleep either.

There is a storm building off the coast of California. It won't reach New Mexico.

\- - -

Chad knows Ryan is in the studio dancing. He can feel it. It's a counter-rhythm to the pulse. It feels like it should be there.

Chad doesn't expect to see Sharpay in there dancing with Ryan.

Ryan catches Chad's eye in the mirror and whispers something into his sister's ear.

They finish their routine. Well, at least Chad thinks it's the end of their routine.

Chad is unprepared to deal with whatever Sharpay may feel the need to dish out to Chad because of his relationship with Ryan. Chad has a feeling that it will be unpleasant no matter what it is. He should have thought this over better.

Sharpay says something quietly to Ryan before she looks Chad over and leaves, which is the exact opposite of what Chad had expected her to do.

"You look terrible," Ryan observes.

"Thanks," Chad returns dryly.

"You should sleep," Ryan suggests.

Chad doesn't bother raising his eyebrows mockingly. He's too tired to play this banter game. Well, not entirely. "Because I didn't try that last night or anything," he ends up muttering.

Gabriella races into the room, stops dead upon seeing them, and says, "Oh. Sorry!" She pauses before she says, "You look terrible, Chad."

"Thanks," Chad returns dryly.

"You tried to sleep without Ryan," she states before tsking.

"Did you just tsk at me?" Chad asks bewilderedly.

"You're Bonded now," Gabriella states the obvious. "Of course you can't sleep without him."

"Lame," Chad mutters.

"Montez is Spanish," Ryan says. Chad has no idea where he's going with that.

"Yes," Gabriella says warily, also having no clue where Ryan is going. "It means 'one who lives by a hill.'"

"Fairy hill," Ryan says not quite under his breath before he says distractedly, "I should check up on Sharpay." He looks to Gabriella. "You know how twins are."

Chad has no idea what Ryan is going on about, but Gabriella must, because her expression hardens.

"How did you figure it out?" she asks resignedly.

"Montez is Spanish," Ryan repeats.

Gabriella's expression softens a bit. "I haven't seen him in five hundred years," she says. Chad has no idea who she hasn't seen in five hundred years. His brain is stuck on how there are people Gabriella hasn't seen in five hundred years, meaning that she's older than five hundred years.

"I couldn't go that long without seeing Sharpay," Ryan says sympathetically.

"I didn't say I haven't spoken to him," she says. "He lives in San Francisco."

"That makes sense," Ryan says.

Chad gives up on trying to figure out what is going on.

"You're putting off speaking to your court," Gabriella says. She walks over to a corner to pick up a sweatshirt. "The war isn't going to not happen just because you aren't present."

"We'll take care of it," Chad grumbles.

"Not without sleeping," Gabriella points out.

"I'll take care of it," Ryan cuts in before Chad can say something.

Ryan leads Chad from the studio and into the pink room.

"You can sleep here," Ryan says. "I'll let Fulton know, then I'll be back. When you wake up, we need to deal with the court. I don't think we can put this off forever." Of course Ryan would agree with Gabriella. They were friends before Chad was friends with Ryan - Bonded to Ryan. But there's also a quickening of that pulse. It's growing louder, too.

"You feel the crescendo, too?" Chad asks as he sinks into the couch. No couch has the right to be this comfortable.

Ryan's eyebrows disappear into the shadow of his hat. "I was unaware you had a musical vocabulary."

Chad means to say something in return, but the couch is really comfy.

\- - -

Chad awakens to Ryan humming gently to himself. It's nice.

There's a hand on his arm, and that's even better. The pads of Ryan's fingertips are light points of pressure on Chad's skin.

"Hey," Chad says, his voice rough from sleep.

"Hey," Ryan echoes. "You and I have the rest of the day off."

Chad grins wolfishly.

"Not for that," Ryan admonishes. "First we prevent a war, then that."

Ryan's cell phone rings. He ignores it.

"It could be important," Chad points out.

"It's my mother's ring," Ryan says. "She's out on the course and probably ran out of golf balls."

"You can't leave your mother stranded like that, man. Not a momma's boy like you." Chad throws Ryan a lopsided grin.

"Watch it," Ryan warns, but he answers the phone anyway. "Hi, Mom." He makes a face. "Yeah. I'm with Chad. I was about to bring him home… We can drop some off for you, sure… We'll be there in about five minutes… Okay. Love you too."

Chad clamps down a giggle.

"She lost all of her golf balls. We need to drop some off for her," Ryan relates with a sigh.

"Who's caddying for her?" Chad asks, hoping it's not Troy. They still have a long way to go in mending their friendship, but they were off to a good start with Troy not acting like a douche anymore and being okay with Chad and Ryan's Bond.

"Troy," Ryan answers.

\- - -

Ryan commandeers a golf cart and drives them out to the eleventh hole. It's the one with a water trap. The way Chad understands it, all of Mrs. Evan's golf balls are at the bottom of the pond.

"Why don't you go see if you can find any of her balls," Ryan suggests. Chad's not clocked in, and he's done this enough while on the clock to know how very involved finding Mrs. Evan's lost golf balls can be. But he knows it's Ryan's way to keep Chad away from Troy.

"Alright," Chad agrees.

He ends up circling the pond twice before he sees what could possibly be a golf club. He knows Mrs. Evans is a piece of work, but he doubts she would actually throw a club into the pond. The club is just deep enough to be almost lost all of its shine in the murky water.

"Hey, Evans!" Chad calls.

Ryan appears over a grassy ridge.

"Mom's already moved on to the next hole," he explains. "Did you find any of her balls?"

Chad sniggers.

Ryan huffs. "That's my mother you're laughing at," he says crossly.

"I found a club," Chad says instead of apologizing. "Can you hang on to my shoes and socks?"

Ryan raises an eyebrow.

"Fine," Chad says, already pulling off his shoes and socks, hopping on one foot. He tosses his shoes to the ground and stuffs his socks inside them. He then rolls up his pants legs. There's no way he's going to ruin another pair of pants when he can avoid it.

Ryan watches him as he wades into the murky water, then plunges his hand into it. Chad's probably going to need an array of vaccinations after this.

Something bites Chad's fingers, and he yanks his hand out of the water. "Son of a bitch!"

Ryan races down to the water's edge. "Are you okay?"

Chad stares at his hand. It's all torn up, and blood is everywhere.

"Something bit me," Chad hears himself say. He looks down to his feet. He can barely see his toes through the water, but he can see what bit him. "Uh."

He reaches down with his other hand and pulls up a sword.

"That's not a golf club," Ryan says faintly, staring at it with wide eyes.

"No, it's not," Chad agrees. "I think I may need stitches. And, uh, a tetanus shot."

\- - -

The sword sits between Chad and Ryan as they sit in Chad's tree house. They both stare at the sword, not saying a word. They're both waiting for something to happen. Neither of them knows what, but Chad is certain they both feel the quickening of pulse.

The sword itself is plain. It has a long, tapered blade of some silvery metal. Chad doubts it's actually silver. There is a ridge down the center of the blade as well as the fuller. The guard is a slight 'v' with the point, facing the grip. It's gold but probably not real gold. The grip is black, and the pommel at the end of the grip is a hollow circle. There are no jewels. There's nothing fancy about this sword. The only thing that hints at the extraordinary is that Chad pulled it from a water trap. Chad knows that King Arthur never pulled any sword from a water trap. He had a beautiful woman hand him the sword. There's no way King Arthur mistook his sword for a gold club either, but Chad doesn't want to go there.

Ryan breaks first. "You pulled a sword from the lake." He sniggers at Chad while Chad scowls at him.

"I know," Chad mutters. "I'm going to have the scars to prove it, too." He runs two fingers along the edge of the bandage on his hand. The cut hurts and itches.

Ryan tilts his head and smiles fondly. "On the bright side, you won't have to wait tables for a while and you can file for workman's comp."

"And you're going to bug me about pulling a sword from the water trap," Chad responds moodily. "I'm not supposed to be Arthur or whatever. I'm supposed to be his son, right?"

"We should have seen this coming," Ryan continues, ignoring Chad. Chad's not sure if it's to be annoying or because Ryan's in shock. "It was either the water trap or the rocks above the waterfall at the pool."

"That's not really helpful," Chad grumbles.

"Anyway," Ryan says breezily. "It's a title you have. You're not Arthur or his son. You're you, and you just happen to be the Winter King as well."

Chad humphs. He shouldn't have an identity crisis with someone else's identity, so he lets it go for the moment.

"I don't suppose you know where the scabbard is," Ryan muses, looking back to the sword.

"Not a clue," Chad answers, following Ryan's gaze.

"It's in Tír-na-n-og, my King."

"Uh," Chad says. He looks up.

There is a girl sitting on the railing. She's maybe three years older than Chad and Ryan. He legs are crossed, and her long legs reach a good distance: her bare feet are pointed down and nearly touch the floor. She has long, dark hair and sad, dark eyes. There is a silver and turquoise necklace around her neck and earrings hanging from her ears. There is a raven tattooed on her neck.

She has a cold, melancholic smile.

"Tirnan-what?" Chad asks. Taylor never mentioned anything with a funny name like that. He should probably ask other, more important questions like who - what - she is… or less important questions like why she's here instead of the doxies.

"The land of the fae," she says. Her voice is sad as well. "Where time reaches no one."

Chad looks to Ryan. Ryan reaches across the sword and latches on to Chad's good hand.

"Come with me," the girl says.

"We can't avoid this," Ryan says.

Chad agrees. He releases Ryan's hand and scoops up the sword - by the hilt this time.

The girl gives them a sad smile before she tumbles backward over the railing.

Chad scrambles to his feet and looks over the edge.

The girl is standing on the ground looking back up at Chad. He should have known that some girl-demon, whatever she is, wouldn't be bothered by a ten foot drop. She doesn't really look like an evil demon or fairy or whatever she is. She doesn't look evil.

Chad's house is nowhere in sight.

What is in sight is a large expanse of desert and grassland with a few sandstones poking above the grass. There are mountains in the distance and a few trees. The one containing Chad's tree house is still standing. The sun overhead is harsh.

Chad's overwhelmingly happy that he changed from his work clothes to a pair of mesh basketball shorts, his "Without Me, it's just Aweso" shirt, and a pair of trainers, because there's no way he wants to tromp through some foreign landscape in his Dockers, button-up and tie, and fancy shoes.

"Come now," the girl calls up to them.

She's not alone. All sorts of strange creatures have gathered to stare up at Chad and Ryan. Great. Now Chad has an entourage of woodland creatures. Many of them don't look friendly, but Chad's not exactly sure how they don't look friendly. Something about them is… sharper, he supposes.

And Chad is their King.

Chad is their King, who will lead them into battle because they want to rule both the summer and winter. It's greed, he realizes. They want power because they don't have it. They relinquish power to another court for half the year, and that is too much time not to have that power.

The pulse in his neck beats so hard it's almost painful against his trachea.

He climbs down the ladder, sword in hand.

The creatures don't murmur like they did before: they stare at Chad in awe. Many of them look familiar. Chad really doesn't want to think about what that means.

He follows the girl, after making sure that Ryan is right there with him.

Despite the harshness of the sun, Chad is glad that it's still up so he can take in the landscape of this Tiran-whatsit.

They pass orchards of pale, scabbed apples, but they also pass pools of standing water surrounded by tall reeds. They walk along a stream for a while in the shade of willows and oaks. It's rather eerie. No one talks, and Ryan is always there when Chad extends his hand. They are being watched. Chad doesn't know by who - or what.

Chad's not sure how long they walk for, but it can't be less than twenty minutes. Maybe a mile and a half or so. They're not walking particularly fast, but they're walking at a steady pace.

The girl leads them to a strange looking sandstone outcrop.

"Your scabbard is here," she says forlornly.

Chad wants to ask her a million questions, but his tongue sticks to the back of his teeth, and an uneasy sense of déjà vu hits him hard between the eyes. He nearly staggers, but Ryan is there to keep him upright.

"What's wrong?" Ryan asks. His hand is firm and high on Chad's back.

"You can't fly," Chad whispers.

Ryan gives him a carefully measured look but matches Chad's tone when he says, "I know."

"Your scabbard, my King," the girl says miserably.

"Yeah," Chad says distractedly. He wants to know what exactly just happened between him and Ryan. He's pretty sure it's very significant.

He climbs up to the top of the largest rock, using the smaller rocks to hop from like a deranged mountain goat that refuses to let go of its sword. Climbing is difficult with one hand bandaged and the other clutching a sword. The largest rock levels out, and there's another small rock on top of it.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Chad scoffs.

The tip of the scabbard is set in stone. The studded leather belt is draped over the rock.

"You okay?" Ryan calls up to him.

"The scabbard is in the freaking stone!" Chad calls back to him.

"Are you joking?" floats up incredulously.

"Only the Winter King will be able to free the scabbard from the stone," the girl says sorrowfully.

Chad frees the scabbard without any issues, wondering why he can't go back to a time when his only problems included his girlfriend dumping him, cream of broccoli soup on his pants, and his best friend acting like a giant douche. It was a simpler time back… two weeks ago. Now he has to wage war against his best friend's girlfriend on another plain of existence.

The belt fits perfectly around Chad's waist, and the sword fits perfectly into the scabbard. They both look a little ridiculous on Chad compared to his basketball-ready clothing.

Chad draws in and releases two deep breaths before he climbs back down. He needs to clamp down the urge to use his sword.

"My King," the girl says. She bows from the waist.

Chad's eyebrows fly up. "Okay." He wants his questions answered. Seriously. "What are you? What do you want?"

The girl straightens. "I have many names," she explains. "My first name was Civataleo. I am also called Bean-Sidhe: banshee. I am your attendant. Whatever you may need, I will deliver for you."

"You're my servant?" Chad chokes out in astonishment. He knew these… fairies considered him their King, but he didn't know that came with servants. He can totally handle servants, even if she's a depressed banshee. Chad doesn't know much about banshees except that they scream. Maybe all banshees are depressed.

Ryan's eyebrows mirror Chad's surprise.

"Yes," she answers, even though it was completely rhetorical. "I will come for you tomorrow at dawn. The pooka are waiting for you. As are the dullahan."

Chad looks to Ryan before he asks, "Do you have a name?"

"Yes, my King," she says. "It is Meztli."

"Okay, Meztli," Chad says, surprised he can pronounce her name correctly. In his mind, she's still 'the girl' - it's easier to remember the pronoun than her actual name. "How long have you been a… whatever it was you said you were?"

"Before they came in ships with their pestilence," she says. There's a creepy note of vengeance in her voice, and Chad would very happily trade that for her melancholy.

"Okay, you've been around for at least five hundred years. I've been a king since I turned seventeen, two weeks ago. You're going to need to explain this to us," Chad explains in his best kingly voice. By Ryan's arched eyebrow, it needs work.

"It will be my honor to answer any questions you may have," she says.

"…Really?" Now that someone will answer his questions, Chad has no idea what to ask first.

Ryan gives Chad an unreadable look. It finally clicks that this girl has not addressed Ryan at all.

"Why have you not been addressing Ryan?" Chad asks suspiciously.

The girl looks mildly panicked and trapped. "Only the King may be permitted to address a creature of such high social rank." She doesn't look Chad in the eye: she's talking to the ground.

Ryan has a higher rank than Chad. The fairies had chosen Chad, not Ryan, and even so, Ryan ends up with a higher rank.

There's sweat collecting at his temples.

The sun makes Chad's head hurt. Or maybe it's not the sun.

"Why does he have a high rank?" Chad asks.

"He is the Queen of Air and Darkness," the girl explains. "The Queen has the highest rank."

"Fairies are matriarchal," Chad realizes. "Huh. Except Ryan's male, not female. I would know."

"No need to be crude," Ryan says. He sounds upset, but it's not about Chad's crudeness. Chad knows firsthand how dirty Ryan's mouth can be. But he shouldn't think about that now.

"We were not all once fairies," the girl says dejectedly. "Some of us were gods."

"And you were demoted, we know," Chad says hastily.

The girl gives Chad a curdled look. "You are now King of a people who would just as gladly kill you as they would follow you," she warns. "Not all look kindly upon a King with cheek."

"They chose me," Chad mutters defensively. He almost says that he never wanted to be King of the Evil Fairies, but no matter how true, he figures that since he's the King, he should probably show a bit of maturity.

"They did not _choose_ you, my King," the girl says. "This has been predicted for centuries."

"Is this like _Hitchhiker's_?" Chad asks in annoyance. "Where the plans to demolish my life were on display in a basement somewhere?"

"Not the time for Douglas Adams," Ryan points out diplomatically.

Chad finally notices that they've drawn a crowd again. He really needs this to not be his life.

"We will be ready at dawn," Ryan says. He then tugs Chad's good hand.

\- - -

Chad isn't sure what happened, but he's in his tree house with Ryan. The sword is still heavy around Chad's waist, but somehow he ended up flat on his back with a headache even worse than before. It feels like someone is drilling up from the base of his skull to directly behind his eyes. The world is spinning slowly around him.

"Ow," he says emphatically.

Ryan grunts at him.

"What just happened?" Chad mumbles. The words stick like cotton in his mouth.

Ryan's face appears over Chad's. "I think I just brought us back." His mouth and words aren't synced up, like someone did a horrible job dubbing.

"Huh," Chad says. The pain in his head ebbs slightly. Enough for him to sit up without regretting it.

He takes his phone out of his pocket intent on texting Taylor about the Tirma-whatsit, but his phone is dead. Again.

Ryan looks over his shoulder. "Fairies don't like iron. Maybe they don't like technology either."

"How do you even know that?" Chad asks.

"Tony," Ryan whispers and looks away.

It takes Chad a moment to remember who Tony is, and once he does, he'd flooded with possessive jealousy.

"Is he - Do you two still - ?" Chad can't figure out how to form his questions.

Luckily Ryan catches on quickly. "No, not anymore." Chad hopes they're talking about the same thing. "Who were you going to call?"

"Taylor," Chad says. He can feel Ryan's anger at that statement.

"You can talk to your ex, but I can't speak to mine?" he demands hotly.

"It's not like that, Evans, and you know it," Chad shoots back. "Taylor can help us."

"So can Tony," Ryan snaps.

"Taylor actually knows," Chad growls. "She knows about all this stuff, and she's still helping."

"You have _no_ idea," Ryan says fiercely. He pushes himself up and all but throws himself down the ladder.

Chad scrambles after him. "Ryan!"

Ryan is on the ground, and there's no way Chad can catch up with him before he makes it to his car. So Chad jumps, landing on Ryan and sending them both painfully to the ground in haphazard pile of limbs.

"Ow!" Chad announces.

Ryan shoves Chad off and mourns the grass stains on his shorts and polo shirt. "Was that necessary?"

"Yes," Chad mutters, pulling strands of grass from his hair. He reaches to pluck a strand from Ryan's hair, but Ryan dodges his hand.

Ryan addresses the ground when he says, "I've been trying to be mature about this." He doesn't run away from Chad, though. Maybe that's a good sign.

"Mature about what?" Chad asks carefully.

"Being the Queen of the Fairies - the Evil Fairies. Being Bonded to you against both of our wills. Being magic," Ryan mumbles.

"Oh," Chad says. He doesn't know what else to say.

"All fairy tales warn not to cross the Queen. She's powerful, spiteful, and will smite you," Ryan continues. That actually sounds a lot like Sharpay, not that Chad would voice that thought. "They never mention the King, because the King wages war and does the bidding of the Queen. This is what everyone - everything - has been saying. But no one ever says the King survives."

"Oh," Chad repeats. Ryan thinks that he could die. "Oh! I'm - sorry, man."

"I can move us in and out of Avalon at will," Ryan says as if his brain is finally catching up. At least Chad knows he's not alone in needing a few moments to process the situation. "I didn't know I could do that."

"That girl - Metal-i? She said it was Tirma-whatsit," Chad corrects.

"With the way the past two weeks have gone, there's no reason it can't be both," Ryan mutters.

He doesn't flinch away when Chad tucks his hair back under his hat. Feeling emboldened, Chad snakes a hand around Ryan's waist, holding on to Ryan's hip. Ryan doesn't pull away. Chad counts that as a win.

"You're magical, man," Chad says with a slight grin.

Ryan snorts. "I'm evil and magical," he retorts. "And Queen. I've been trying so hard not to fall into stereotypes - "

"No, you haven't," Chad counters. "You wear pink, you're well-groomed, you listen to show music, and you choreograph. Oh, and you're a momma's boy."

Ryan snorts again. "Those were by choice," he insists. He leans closer to Chad. Chad's unsure if it's the Bond and Ryan isn't conscious of it or if he is.

"You choose to be a stereotype," Chad says skeptically. "What if you ended up being straight?"

"Not a chance," Ryan says breezily. "Anyway, I do what I like to do regardless of what other people think."

"Except Sharpay," Chad states.

Ryan's nostrils flare. "Including Sharpay. I value her opinion, but I'm not her poodle, I thought I made that clear. God, I have no idea how she's going to react to this," he concludes miserably.

"You haven't told her?" Chad asks. "She's your sister."

"Have you told Troy?" Ryan volleys. "He's like your brother."

Chad huffs. "I see your point, but she's your twin. That has to mean something more."

"Chad," Ryan says seriously, looking Chad directly in the eye. "I am trying very hard not to think about anything other than now. I don't want to think about being Gabriella's evil counterpart, and I really don't want to think about you battling Gabriella to the death."

"Wait, what?" Chad stutters out. "_Battling_ to the _death_? Who said anything about battling to the death?" Under different circumstances, he would be embarrassed by the cracks in his voice.

"Gabriella," Ryan says quietly.

"She said I'd have to battle her to the _death_? I thought she said we were immortal now," Chad protests. He doesn't like this battling to the death thing.

"She also said to ask what happened to the last King," Ryan points out. "You never asked."

"You dragged me away!" Chad protests vehemently.

"I'm not going to continue this conversation in your backyard covered in grass stains." Ryan pushes himself up, dislodging Chad. "We should continue those someplace I know no one is watching us."

Chad stares as Ryan brushes himself off and walks to his car.

Ryan turns around. "We can't continue this conversation if you stay there."

Chad jumps up and chases after Ryan.

\- - -

The mid afternoon sun is hot and unforgiving. Chad can feel sweat rolling down his spine and settling in the small of his back. The leather belt around his waist traps the sweat and heat. Ryan presses against him, pushing Chad's back into the side of Ryan's car. Ryan's hands tug at the belt and run along the edge between the leather and Chad's shirt. It's really nice, but not really the continuation of an awkward conversation.

Ryan presses his chest to Chad's, and there's only a brief moment when Chad thinks that the body against him is angular when it should be curved. But then Ryan bites gently down Chad's jaw line then back up to Chad's ear to say, "We should head inside. You never know when Sharpay will forget her favorite nail file and return to fetch it."

Mentioning Sharpay completely ruins the mood.

"Alright," Chad agrees sullenly.

"We will talk about this," Ryan says, "but I can't stop touching you."

Chad knows it's the Bond, because he can feel it too, but that doesn't stop him from wanting Ryan right back. "You don't have to stop," he says. He hadn't expected his voice to be as breathy as it sounded.

"I don't want the war to start while we're occupied," Ryan states sensibly. Chad hates on him for that, but only a little.

"She said nothing would happen until dawn tomorrow," Chad points out. If Ryan can be sensible, then so can Chad.

"We need to do more research by then," Ryan says. "And we need to continue our conversation." He detangles and peels himself off Chad with a swipe of his tongue over Chad's lips. "C'mon. Inside. You look like you could use some ice tea."

\- - -

Chad takes a sip of his ice tea and chokes.

Ryan laughs at him and takes a calm sip of his own ice tea, which is so not fair.

"What kind of ice tea is _that_?" Chad wheezes.

"Long Island," Ryan answers serenely. "You need to relax."

Chad grumbles but downs his drink anyway.

"I'm going to give you a lot of information," Ryan says. "You need to be relaxed or you'll freak out."

"That's not very reassuring," Chad mutters.

Ryan snorts. "Tomorrow there's going to be a war. You need to know all you can by then. I'm not going to let you die."

"Even if that means Gabriella does?" Chad asks. It finally dawns on him that he might have to kill his best friend's girlfriend. How the hell could Chad face Troy after that? How the hell could Chad bring himself to actually _kill_ someone? Gabriella?

Chad's not sure if he'd have this much difficulty if he had to battle someone he didn't know. His blood is singing in time with the pulse, and he's afraid of what that means.

He licks his lips.

Ryan blushes. "I'm not Bonded to Gabriella."

Chad feels his face heat in response.

"You're going to need to battle with Gabriella, who is more experienced with this sort of thing," Ryan says. "She's also the Queen, meaning she's more powerful than you as well as more experienced."

Chad waits for Ryan to continue, to tell him how he possibly stands a chance of surviving to tomorrow night. Chad most definitely doesn't wish to start his life of immortality by dying. That would suck.

"I think the reason you're battling with Gabriella is because she doesn't have a King to fight for her," Ryan says awkwardly. "But you, as the King, will need to fight her instead of me battling with her."

Chad very tactfully - he's a little surprised himself - doesn't mention anything about a catfight. The match-up doesn't exactly seem fair to him, but then he's not sure why he should expect fair from this entire thing.

"I spoke with Taylor this morning while you were asleep, or rather, she spoke to me," Ryan continues. Chad tries really hard not to bristle. After the argument they had earlier, Ryan contacted the person he yelled at Chad for contacting. "She showed me something interesting… old. I don't know how to - I'm not sure if it really works, but she found a spell that can return us to mortality. We - you wouldn't have to fight."

"A spell?" Chad repeats skeptically.

"Yeah," Ryan says quietly. "It's untested, but whoever casts it can only cast it once."

"Once?" Chad repeats. That doesn't seem right. Of course, he and Ryan would need to cast the spell on each other at the same time for that to work. Chad can see a lot of problems that might happen with that.

"Once," Ryan agrees. "That's it. That's really it."

"Will it work to prevent a war?" Chad asks. If he and Ryan are back to being mortal, does that mean that they'd no longer be the King and Queen? Because Chad can totally see that backfiring, where they would still be King and Queen but mortal and unable to really fight or protect themselves.

"I don't know," Ryan says, not looking at Chad and taking a delicate sip of his ice tea.

Chad is actually looking forward to a war. He can use his new sword, but he knows better than to admit that aloud. He's also scared of himself for having those thoughts.

"Does that mean I won't have to battle Gabriella to the death?" he asks.

"I hope so," Ryan says. "But I don't know."

"That's good," Chad chokes out. There must be something wrong with him, because he doesn't mean what he says and the world is fuzzy around the edges. "Um, Ryan?"

Ryan looks at Chad, but he's not… Ryan's flickering in and out of focus - and existence. "What's wrong?"

"You're not there," Chad states. "I can hear you, but you're not there."

Chad jumps at the hand on his arm. "I'm right here, Chad. I haven't gone anywhere."

"You can't fly," Chad says in near hysterics.

"I know I can't - Chad, have you had alcohol before?" Ryan asks calmly, but he tightens his grip on Chad's arm.

"Of course I have," Chad snaps.

"Damn," Ryan hisses. He pulls Chad to his feet and leads him somewhere. Chad can't tell where, but Ryan eases him down onto something soft and horizontal.

\- - -

When Chad wakes up, Ryan and Taylor are sitting on overstuffed armchairs across the room from him. That must mean he's on a couch. They're having a hushed conversation that sounds very urgent. Chad can't hear many of the words, and what he does hear doesn't mean much to him. In fact, it sounds suspiciously like chemistry.

Chad's head hurts. It throbs in time with the pulse. He once saw a tortoise that had been flattened by a car: that's what his head feels like. Like his skull has shattered and all the gooey insides have recently become outsides. It also feels like someone stuffed his mouth with sand and his ears with cotton swabs.

He can tell it's night. He knows there are coyotes outside: a pack of five and a lone sixth a mile out calling for his pack.

Chad's vision is only slightly blurry. He only has to blink at Ryan a dozen or so times before he and Taylor come into focus.

"What happened?" Chad rasps and then lapses into a bout of coughing.

Ryan and Taylor's attention snaps to him.

"Your new physiology couldn't metabolize the alcohol," Taylor explains.

That can't be all, Chad knows, because Ryan had alcohol as well. Chad points this out.

Taylor bites her lip, but she doesn't answer.

"Ryan?" Chad asks. He's asking so much more than why he had passed out: he wants to know why Taylor is here as well.

Chad pats his side, looking for the newly reassuring touch of his sword. He doesn't find it.

"Your sword is on the table," Ryan says. "I didn't want you rolling onto it when you were asleep."

Chad nods. That makes sense.

"You should also redress your hand," Ryan continues.

Chad nods and moves to sit up. He doesn't make it. "Bad idea," he mumbles. He lies back down to ease the pain in his head.

"I'll take care of your hand," Taylor offers. "Ryan, where are the bandages?"

"Up the stairs, second door on the right," Ryan instructs.

"I'll be right back." Taylor runs out of the room.

"Why is Taylor here?" Chad demands. "After that big diva fit you threw, you called her over!"

"She also understands what's going on inside your body. You blacked out, and I panicked. If it's such a big deal, I can - "

"It's fine, Ryan, really. Just - "

Taylor returns with a handful of gauze. "Anyone want to explain how Chad cut himself and why he has a sword?" she asks dryly. She drops to her knees in front of Chad.

"Um…" Chad says. "How about you redress my hand instead?" he offers.

Taylor raises her eyebrows incredulously before she huffs out a breath. "Fine, give me your hand."

Chad holds out his bandaged hand for Taylor to redress. His hand has stopped itching, which is good, but it still hurts a little.

Taylor finishes unwrapping his hand and says, "Is this a joke?"

"Is what a joke?" Chad asks, peering awkwardly at Taylor.

"Your hand," she says. "It's just an old scar."

"What?!" Chad exclaims, alarmed. "I sliced my hand open this afternoon!"

"He did," Ryan confirms. "On the sword."

"Okay." Taylor draws out the word in confusion.

Chad pulls his hand up to his face. Taylor's right. It's just an old scar, but the bandages are bloody.

"It might have to do with your new physiology," Taylor proposes. "You heal quickly."

"I suppose that's a good thing," Chad grumbles sourly. "That way when I'm mortally wounded in battle, I'll heal quickly enough for Gabriella to kill me again."

"Whoa!" Taylor shouts. "Gabriella's going to _kill_ you?!"

"Uh," Chad says, chastising himself. "I really hope she doesn't."

Taylor places her hands on her hips. "Is that your way of saying 'not if I kill her first,' because, really, Chad, you're becoming even more ridiculous."

Chad releases a bitter bark of a laugh.

"We've already told you too much," Ryan intercepts the conversation quickly. "We don't want you more involved than necessary."

"That's why you were so interested in that spell I found," Taylor realizes. "That spell means there will be no death."

Ryan sighs heavily and resignedly. "Yeah. Chad - " Ryan looks quickly to Chad, then back to Taylor " - he's becoming increasingly… bloodthirsty. I… He wants this war. I'm trying to prevent it."

"I don't want this war," Chad protests weakly. He doesn't want to battle Gabriella to the death, but the prospect of war makes his mouth water, and it's very disturbing.

Ryan gives Chad a very sarcastic and bitchy look.

Chad grumbles but doesn't say anything definite.

"I'll teach you the spell, Chad," Taylor says resolutely. "Ryan, you should sleep."

Chad sneaks a glance at the clock. It's almost one in the morning. He'd been out for about ten hours.

\- - -

Taylor leaves an hour later. Chad vaguely wonders where Sharpay is before he decides that he really doesn't care.

Chad's exhausted. He's past exhausted. He's asleep but his body doesn't know it yet.

He lets himself into Ryan's room and crawls into bed with him.

Ryan makes a small noise of protest but then buries his face into Chad's neck.

"Are you ready?" Ryan asks. His voice is slurred with sleep.

"I'll never be ready," Chad admits. His blood is still singing. "But I'm ready to sleep."

"Mmm," Ryan agrees.

There's something Chad needs to do before he goes to sleep, but he's too tired to remember what.

\- - -

Someone repeatedly taps on Ryan's window. It's irritating.

Chad groans and turns over to bury his face in a pillow.

The window bursts open, and even though he will deny it later, he growls deep in his throat.

Ryan mutters something about sisters and their evil agendas that including mornings.

Chad cracks open an eye so he can glare properly.

The girl from the day before is propped on the window sill staring at Chad and Ryan. Chad is so not ready for the day it's almost laughable… except for the part that if he did laugh, it would be so loud and hysterical that people in Denmark would recommend a shrink.

"It is time, my King," the girl says. Her voice is still sad, but there's a sort of sadistic glee to it that Chad fears might be infectious. "The pooka and the dullahan will not wait long. It will be better if they have guidance."

Crap. That means a war will go on even if Chad refuses to leave Ryan's bed.

"Gabriella's a morning person," Ryan says. His voice is rough with sleep. Chad figures that Gabriella would be a morning person. And she'd be happy about it, too. "She's probably rallying her troops right now."

Chad groans into the pillow, and when he finally pushes himself out of bed, he realizes that he's no longer in Ryan's bedroom and they have a rather large, angry-looking audience that wants Chad to lead them into battle. Chad doesn't know the first thing about battles, except they usually end with a lot of people - or in this case creatures - dead. Despite all the similes he's heard, he's pretty sure that war is not at all like high school and vice versa.

His sword is hanging from the belt at his hip, even though he knows he didn't go to sleep with it there.

The creatures that surround them are creatures of nightmare, but not Chad's. The creatures don't exactly look particularly malevolent. They just have a look to them that suggests crossing them would be a very bad idea. Well, most of them have that look - the ones that have faces have that look. Some creatures lack faces, and some creatures lack heads all together. It's really unnerving.

Chad has no idea what he's doing, but that isn't a first.

Ryan is next to him, and his sword is at his hip. Those are both reassuring. However, neither gives him direction.

After a long time with no one speaking, one of the headless things says, "They have a camp set up along the Mag Mell."

Now Chad knows where the supposed enemy is, regardless of the fact that he doesn't know where or what Mag Mell is or how something without a head can talk.

Maybe he could use basketball plays to work himself out of this. They led the Wildcats to a championship; Chad doesn't see why they can't help him out in a war. It's just strategy. He hopes.

Except the world shifts - Chad's really irritated by this happening all the time - and they're someplace new, but it's still Avalon or Tirn-ma-whatsits. The world looks greener, though, more so than it did before he stepped out of Ryan's bed, which looking back was probably not the best move Chad's ever made. He should have stayed in bed with Ryan for the rest of forever, and that would have been more than perfect. Chad could totally lead a war and have Ryan all to himself simultaneously. Chad's not sure if that's the Bond speaking or what. His thoughts have never been this strange.

Before Chad has the opportunity to properly regain his balance, Ryan yanks his arm, tugging him somewhere. Ryan's hand leaves Chad's arm, and Ryan goes off to do something. The world around them moves but doesn't spin. It's like… the world is alive, except it's not the world that's moving in disjointed pieces. It's everything else. It's war. Fairies of all shapes and sizes drop from the sky or where they stand. Blood of all different colors splatters across any and all surfaces. Chad hopes it's blood, because - He doesn't hope it's blood.

He doesn't know where Ryan is. He's not close by, and Chad can't see the scenery through the fairies. He hadn't expected everything to happen so quickly. He expected to have more to say than the nothing he's already said. He expected - not this. He hadn't expected to be used as an excuse for war. Chad's body vibrates with the singing. It feels like he might shake apart, and the only thing he can hear is the pulse.

Chad hears Ryan whisper, "Holy shit."

Ryan is nowhere in sight. Chad shouldn't have been able to hear Ryan at all, especially over the pulse.

There are so many creatures, and they're everywhere. Chad has his sword drawn, but nothing attacks him. He's for Gabriella only. Chad really wants to sit quietly with Ryan in the tree house and hope this is a horrible dream, except that his mouth is watering in the anticipation of the fight. Chad knows that should frighten him, but he's more disturbed that he's _not_ frightened.

Short of that hope for a horrible dream, Chad would settle for knowing _where Ryan is_.

Chad also needs to stop panicking. Ryan will be okay. He's tough.

Chad also feels kinda useless. Everything around him is fighting, and he's not. Then it clicks, and Chad really wishes it would unclick, but this isn't about Chad. This is about using Chad to snare Ryan. This is all about Ryan being Queen.

He doesn't see Gabriella charging at him until she's too close. Chad's not sure what her choice in weapon is. There's nothing in her hands, but that doesn't stop Chad from raising his sword.

Gabriella smiles sweetly at Chad as she charges. She waves a hand, and Chad's sword tries to jump out of his hands. He's not about to let that happen and holds on tightly.

Gabriella's smile wavers. She dodges Chad's swing of his sword.

Her smile strengthens. "Boys and your toys," she says over the pulse. Her feet don't still as she circles Chad like a shark.

He tries not to be intimidated. He's been guarded by the largest guys - guys who should have been playing football, not basketball. Gabriella is tiny in comparison, but this isn't a game. Chad's minds is still having difficulty wrapping around the fact that as long as they're both King and Queen of different courts one of them will have to die. _Die_. Not winner and loser: alive and dead.

He takes another swing at her with his sword and misses by a lot. It's rather embarrassing.

If this were a basketball game, Chad'd try to mess with Gabriella's head. However, Gabriella is a lot older than Chad's usual opponents, and she probably has a lot more experience with battle. She's quiet and so is Chad. It's messing with Chad's head a bit. He's used to his opponent being all up in his face. He's not use how to judge Gabriella's moves. He keeps turning in a slow circle to keep his front to Gabriella just in case.

She continues to smile as she says something in some language that probably died hundreds of years ago.

Chad can't keep his grip on his sword, and it flies out of his hands, impaling some passing creature. Chad doesn't know which court is now with one less creature.

He catches something out of the corner of his eye: something moving up the cliff face. He looks to it automatically. At the top of the cliff bluff is the creature from Chad's dream. The one that tore Ryan's wings.

Chad panics even more. It feels like he might puke at any moment. He hasn't seen Ryan in what feels like hours.

He only takes his eyes off Gabriella for a moment, but in that time, Gabriella is upon him. There's a cloud of color around her: a deep blue green. One part of Chad's mind is surprised it's not pink while the other part of his mind freaks out.

Gabriella's going to do something horrible to him just because he's the King and she's the Queen. Chad had no idea how he's going to explain this to Troy. Not that it matters if Chad ends up dead. He doesn't want either of them dead. He just wants a battle.

He takes a deep breath. He can end this now. He can end this now and not have to kill Gabriella - if he uses the spell intended for himself and Ryan. That would mean that he and Ryan would have to stay immortal. That even if one of them could become mortal, they would both suffer anyway because of the Bond. And he doesn't even know if the spell will actually work.

Gabriella's looking at him with manic eyes, and the words pour out of Chad's mouth.

Their world screams to a halt. The rest of the world still battles.

Gabriella seems less shiny than she was before. The blue green cloud is gone.

They stare at each other.

"Chad," she says. Her voice is high and tight.

"I - I don't know," he responds. "It just happened."

"I feel - strange," she says with a small frown.

"Like a human?" Chad offers.

Gabriella stares at him and nods mutely.

Chad hadn't actually expected the spell would actually work. Although now everything is a whole lot more complicated. And there's still a war going on around them.

"You've won, Chad," Gabriella says. Chad's can't recognize her tone. "I hope you know what you've gotten yourself into."

Chad stares at her. He has no idea what mess he's in now.

"You also need to take me out of Mag Mell," she says. "I can't do it on my own anymore."

"Uh, what?" Chad asks. He thinks he knows what Gabriella's talking about, but he's not one hundred percent clear on it.

"I'm human now," she says patiently. "Only the fae may come and go from this place."

"Oh," Chad says dumbly, a little shell shocked. "I don't know how to do that."

"How did you come here, then?" she asks.

"Ryan?" It ends up as a question.

"It's really easy," Gabriella says. It's the same tone of voice she uses when teaching chemistry. "Hold my hand and think of being someplace else."

Chad reaches for her hand and thinks about his tree house.

They end up on Troy's tree house, which is pretty okay for Chad's first attempt, and he suspects Gabriella may have influenced that destination just a little bit. He's only slightly vindicated that they both land on their butts.

"That was a really selfless thing you did, Chad," Gabriella says. She squeezes his hand before releasing it. "Good luck."

Chad nods. He needs to find Ryan. And his sword.

\- - -

Chad ends up next to Ryan, who's covered in blood that hopefully isn't his own. Ryan is kicking butt and taking names. Chad's not exactly sure how, but it's impressive.

Chad takes a moment to admire Ryan's ass and the swing of his hips and shoulders before he says, "The Queen is gone!"

Every fairy stops in its path.

"The Winter King and the Queen of Air and Darkness are the victors!" Chad shouts. He remembers what Ryan had said about the courts and season and tries to formulate what he should say next. He also sees his sword.

There is a small murmur building in the crowd as Chad picks up his sword.

He holds it over his head as he shouts, "We won!" He doesn't know what else to say.

Ryan picks up Chad's slack. He rights his hat as he says, "Everything will continue as it was. The change you want is gluttonous and makes you no better than the humans you torment. We are not lowly humans. We are the fae!"

Ryan's been fae, what? Two weeks? Humans aren't all that bad. Chad's been one for the past seventeen years. So has Ryan. Chad's friends are human. There's no reason for Ryan to insult them.

But apparently it's the right thing to say, because every creature cheers. Some look sour about it. Chad can work with that. Except he realizes that he doesn't have to work with it: Ryan does. Chad is now essentially useless. In fact, it feels like he never had any purpose at all. His purpose was probably to die in battle. Chad would much rather feel useless, thank you very much. He's sure Ryan feels the same. He hopes Ryan feels the same.

The creatures dissipate slowly. There's no more violence.

Chad catches a glimpse of the creature that wants to take Ryan's wings. He has no idea if it actually wants Ryan's wings (metaphorical or not) or not, but it did in his dream.

The creature has an even more hideous face than Chad expected, but there's no way he could ever mistake it for another creature. It has tiny, beady eyes and many sharp teeth. The creature's face is focused solely on Ryan.

Without realizing what he's doing, Chad circles the ground below the creature to determine the best place to climb the bluff without being detected. He's sword is drawn, and he's determined to kill.

Before Chad can scale the bluff, the creature crawls down behind Ryan, close enough to sniff Ryan's shampoo. Chad is the only one allowed to do that. The creature is also close enough to displace Ryan's hat when it snorts.

Ryan turns around to face it as Chad charges at it and the creature bares its teeth at Ryan.

Ryan frowns and does some complicated hand gesture that results in the creature exploding all over the place - including Chad's face and Ryan's overpriced clothing - and face.

"Ew," Ryan says. It comes out as more of a sigh than a vehement declaration about the state of his clothing.

Chad sheaths his sword. "Yeah," he says breathlessly. He swipes a hand over his face in an attempt to remove evil demon goo. It's sticky and clings to his hand. He wipes it on the grass.

His body still sings, but it's only leftover adrenaline.

Ryan wipes the goo off his own face.

Chad needs to touch him, to make sure that Ryan's still there. Later he'll ask how Ryan did what he did.

He doesn't give Ryan a chance to wipe the goo off on the ground. He practically runs into Ryan, hands framing his face.

Ryan gives Chad a shy, private smile and wraps his hands over Chad's shoulders. "My King," he says.

Chad knows it's a bad idea, but he says, "My Queen," which is followed by "Ow!" when Ryan pinches him.

\- - -

Chad feels human again after he takes a shower. Well, he feels less dingy. He doesn't think he'll think he'll feel human again, which is a depressing thought. He still hasn't told Ryan. Chad's not sure how Ryan will take the news, but he's pretty sure it will involve pain on Chad's end. He's not sure as to whether the pain will be physical or not.

Chad sits down on Ryan's bed. He's only wearing his boxers, and his energy is so low he's surprised he was able to put even those on.

Ryan pads back into his room, hair dripping from his own shower. He's tied a bath towel around his waist.

"You didn't kill Gabriella," he says softly. He sits down next to Chad.

"No," Chad says. "You're going to hate me." He resists the urge to touch Ryan: that would probably be a bad idea.

Ryan frowns.

Chad tries to think of a delicate, tactful way to say that he can never turn Ryan moral. Tact's never been Chad's strongest suit, so he doesn't bother. "I used the spell on Gabriella," he blurts out and braces himself for Ryan's punch.

"The one we were supposed to use on each other?" Ryan asks slowly. He leans away from Chad.

"Yeah, that one," Chad says self-depreciatingly.

"That means you can't cast it again," Ryan says. His voice is carefully neutral.

"Yeah, that's what it means," Chad affirms.

"Fuck!" Ryan says vehemently, shocking Chad. He doesn't think he's ever heard Ryan curse, let alone something as strongly as that.

"Ryan…?" Chad asks hesitantly.

"No, Chad!" Ryan says as he jumps to his feet. "No! You dragged me into this and then there was hope of you dragging us out, but now there's nothing!"

Chad was not expecting this much drama, which was kinda stupid in hindsight, because Ryan's an actor: they need drama to survive.

"I'm sorry!" Chad shouts back. "I didn't want to kill Gabriella!"

"I know you became bloodthirsty," Ryan hisses. "What's one more death?!"

"I haven't killed _anything_!" Chad protests. "Not Gabriella, not any of those creatures. Nothing. You're the one who killed."

"That's why I need to be human again," Ryan says miserably. "I can't moderate myself."

"What �" what do you mean?" Chad asks.

"There's so much power in me," Ryan says. "It wants to be used. You've been acting like you're the only one in this mess and I'm just a bystander. But I'm neck deep in this, just like you are, and you threw away our only hope of changing that." He takes a deep breath before he says in near hysterics, "I killed a lot of fae today."

Chad has no idea what to say of how to react. He has no clue how to deal with a destructive, desperate, evil fairy queen. Even if he scoured the entire self-help section at Borders, he'd still have no clue.

A cog is thrown into the mess: Sharpay bursts into Ryan's bedroom.

She scowls disapprovingly at Chad and Ryan. "Is this why you didn't show up at Lava Springs?!" Her voice is shrieky. "You wanted to jump the hired help?!"

"Hey!" Chad says indignantly.

Ryan is so worked up that Chad is afraid he might make Sharpay explode, so he takes charge.

"Look, Sharpay," Chad says quickly before Ryan can. "He's had a really trying day. He - "

"I'd imagine so, with all the monkey sex," she snaps back. "Really, Ryan, didn't you have enough time last night? I was bored today! Mother and Daddy went off to LA for lunch, and I had no one to talk to!"

Wait. She isn't angry about the fact that Ryan and Chad had slept together: she's upset that Ryan had abandoned her.

Ryan looks… Ryan looks like he's mentally checked out.

"Ryan?" Chad asks gently. He takes a step closer to Ryan while Sharpay glowers disapprovingly.

"Chad and I need to find Gabriella," Ryan says vacantly.

"Wha?" Chad says.

Ryan doesn't answer. He grabs Chad's wrist and drags him out of the room.

Sharpay stomps after them to shout, "You'd better explain this later, Ryan! Or your blue fedora will become intimately acquainted with the blender!"

Ryan doesn't even wince. He also doesn't put on pants or allow Chad to put on his pants.

"I'm not explaining to Troy why we're visiting his girlfriend pantless," Chad says sternly.

Ryan snaps out of wherever his mind went and returns to his bedroom.

Sharpay has gone elsewhere. Thank God for small favors.

\- - -

Gabriella isn't at all surprised to see them. She invites them in and offers them brownies. All three of them sit on the couch and don't say anything.

Finally, Gabriella says "How have the sheoques taken to this?"

"Which ones are they?" Chad asks around a brownie.

"Tiny and transparent," Ryan says bitterly. "They're the reason we ended up in this mess."

Gabriella pulls her lips between her teeth before she says, "This wasn't the first uprising from your court."

"Is that what happened to the last king?" Chad asks. Gabriella had told him to ask what happened to the last king. He figures she might as well be the one to answer it.

"I killed him," Gabriella says stoically.

Chad can't imagine Gabriella killing a fly, let alone a person, let alone the best friend of the boy she's dating.

"You would have killed me too, wouldn't you've?" Chad asks, not sure he really wants her to answer.

"Yes," she says casually and without hesitation. Chad was right: he didn't want to know the answer. She doesn't sound the least bit remorseful about it, either. "What happened after I left?"

"Ryan kicked butt and took names," Chad explains.

"I meant with the courts," Gabriella clarifies.

"Nothing," Ryan says. He looks out the window to avoid eye contact.

"Nothing meaning what?" Gabriella asks.

"Everything stayed the same," Ryan says. He looks to Gabriella with solemn eyes.

Gabriella's expression darkens. "Many from my court died for everything to stay the same."

Ryan's expression hardens. "They all could have died or something worse."

Gabriella bites her lip. "History is just that. Don't you understand? It's one race conquering another. That's how the world changes. There will always be uprisings, always be cultures wanting to control what someone else has."

"You wanted change?" Chad blurts out. "You wanted me to _kill_ you?"

"I would have preferred not to die, but after a while life tends to become boring if it's more of the same. If it's for nothing, though, what would be the point other than death?" She looks at him sadly. It's the same creepily haunting expression that Chad's banshee had. "You'll understand soon enough. I think Ryan understands now." It's not sadness: it's pity.

Chad turns to examine Ryan closely. He's worrying his lower lip but otherwise looks the same.

"It's the power," Gabriella says. Ryan's expression hardens even more, and he glares at Gabriella with full-on hatred. It's like he's going to cut a bitch. Chad's shocked. He knew Ryan could be a little bitch, but he never thought Ryan could be so full of hate - and at Gabriella, East High's darling.

Chad can feel something along with the pulse. It's not the singing that was in his blood like before. It's different. Staccato.

"You'll learn to control it," Gabriella says. "Hopefully before it controls you."

Okay, Chad sees where this is going. It _is_ going to be a giant catfight. And he's really not okay with that. Not when the only two people who know what's going on are sizing each other up looking for a weakness. He's not sure that he should intrude, but if he can handle a battle without dying, maybe he can handle this without dying. He hopes.

The only problem is that he doesn't know how to step in tactfully. If ever a situation merited tact, it's this one.

"Guys," Chad says carefully. "You guys were, like, inseparable a month ago. You're still the same people."

Chad figures that, by the death glares both Ryan and Gabriella give him, that was probably the wrong thing to say. He seriously wishes he knew everything about this situation.

"Only some small things have changed," Chad continues. And, wow, that was probably the biggest understatement he'd ever made. "Like Gabriella's not a queen anymore, and Ryan's a queen now, which is actually kinda funny, because he - "

"You're not going to finish that sentence," Ryan growls. He looks pretty serious, so Chad decides not to finish his sentence.

"Things change, Chad," Gabriella says tightly. "That's how history works," she repeats. Gabriella may be right about that. History is a series of changes. It doesn't always need to be conquests. Gabriella can't accept this newest change, and Ryan is a rival for Gabriella's previous position, one she's hand for hundreds of years. She can't let go. Ryan… Ryan's bitchy because… Chad has no idea.

"This is a change," Chad points out. "It's just a different change for what you expected."

Gabriella's look curdles. Chad's intrigued. He's never seen the nasty side of Gabriella. He didn't even know she had a nasty side. It's kinda off-putting. Maybe it's because she's human now.

"Gabriella, please," Chad says. "I'm sorry neither of us died." He's actually not sorry that neither of them died. "I'm sorry you're now mortal. Just as sorry as I am that Ryan and I will never be mortal." That he really is sorry about. "But _please_ help Ryan out. None of this is his fault."

Gabriella sighs. "It's nothing I can help with. It's willpower. Your situation will be different than mine. You went from being mortal to immortal. I've gone from being immortal to mortal." She shoots Chad an accusing look.

"You �" You were an Aztec Goddess," Chad blurts out. "That wasn't just ridiculous speculation?"

"I was Xochiquetzal," Gabriella says. She locks eyes with Ryan. Ryan meets her gaze and doesn't waver.

"I know," Ryan says.

Chad really hates being out of the loop. "Can someone explain this whole thing?" he demands.

Gabriella and Ryan stare at him.

"I've been lost for, like, the past few weeks," Chad says, trying to keep his irritation in check. He's not upset by Ryan and Gabriella. It's the entire situation and being kept in the dark.

"You are the Winter King," Gabriella says. "That's your title. Ryan's title is the Queen of Air and Darkness. You rule the… well, you call it the Unseelie Court now. I am �" was �" I was the Queen of the Seelie Court." She grabs a brownie and breaks off a small piece before popping it into her mouth.

"So they're just titles, not, like, reincarnations or something?" Chad asks. "'Cause I think it would be kinda Oedipus for Ryan to be my mother."

The corners of Gabriella's mouth turn up. "They're just titles. I can't believe you actually read the book."

"Hey!" Chad objects. "Being smart and a jock aren't mutually exclusive." A disturbing thought hits him: "If you're an Aztec Goddess, does that mean that there are also, like Greek gods and goddess running around?"

Gabriella shrugs. "I don't see why not. I've never knowingly met one, though."

"Oh, okay," Chad says. "How old are you?"

Gabriella laughs at that. "Never ask a lady her age, Chad."

He frowns a little, and Ryan slides closer to him. "So you're really old, but you're still in high school?"

"I like learning new things," she says.

Chad gives her his most incredulous look. "High school?"

"Well, I guess next year I'll be applying to colleges," Gabriella says. There's still a touch of bitterness in her voice.

"Troy said he'd follow you to wherever you go," Chad informs her. "What are you going to do with him?"

"I don't understand what you mean," Gabriella says with a frown.

"Troy," Chad states. "Were you intending on, like, stringing him along until he was 20 and you were still sixteen? Or are you going to continue dating him? What?"

"We haven't discussed the future yet," Gabriella says firmly.

"You should," Chad says fiercely. "He's disgustingly in love with you, and I'm pissed that, like a week ago, I didn't know that you were going to be sixteen forever and break his heart."

Ryan looks sarcastically amused. He places a hand on Chad's hip, and Chad definitely doesn't jump at the contact. He really doesn't like Gabriella's smug look.

Chad narrows his eyes. "And what was that whole thing about twins?"

"I have a twin. His name is Xochipilli. Well, now it's Timothy. He lives in San Francisco now," Gabriella says. "He used to be the god of sports and dancing."

"Oh," Chad says. "That's an Aztec thing?"

"That's an Aztec thing," Gabriella affirms.

"How are you going to deal with him now that he's immortal and you're not?" Ryan asks primly. Chad doesn't hear that. He hears how is Ryan going to tell this to his sister.

"He already knows," she says. She examines Ryan closely.

There's Gabriella's passive aggressive streak.

Chad can feel Ryan tense.

"We should go," Chad suggests. He wraps a hand around Ryan's wrist. "We'll contact you later if we have more questions."

"Moving around helps." Gabriella tilts her head. "Don't lose your sword," she advises. "There will be more uprisings, in groups and individuals. You will also need to lead as rulers."

Chad tugs Ryan away before he can deliver a bitchy response.

\- - -

Chad's shift ended half an hour ago. He pulled an early shift, and he's waiting for Ryan out by the pool. He sits at the end of a chaise on the only strip of grass. The concrete under his shoes felt too wrong.

It had been sunny earlier, but clouds are thickening above.

He watches Gabriella teach a swimming lesson with bored fascination.

He feels Ryan approach him. He doesn't even need to look up to know that Ryan's serious and closed-off.

"I take it didn't go well," Chad says wryly.

"Let's go for a walk," Ryan suggests.

They make it to the water trap before Ryan says anything else. Chad sits and waits for Ryan to say whatever he needs to say.

"I told Sharpay," Ryan says. He doesn't look at Chad.

Chad watches Ryan's reflection in the water.

"She called me a lot of creative and insulting things," Ryan continues. "And she didn't believe me." He pauses and looks to the sky. "I showed her Avalon.

"She only knows about the two of us. I didn't mention anything about Gabriella."

Chad looks up to Ryan.

"The weather was supposed to be nice today," Ryan observes. "Why is it cloudy?"

"Dunno," Chad says even though he knows it's a rhetorical question.

"I hope it doesn't rain," Ryan says absently.

"We still need to figure out how to explain this to our parents, man," Chad says quietly. He's really not looking forward to explaining why he needs to sleep in the same bed as Ryan and how it really isn't something that can be helped. He's also not looking forward to explaining the immortal but things try to kill them part either. He had been this close to going to Gabriella with it, but she probably would have looked at him smugly and said that her mother was a goddess or something so she's never had to deal with it.

Chad feels something under his skin, like an itch but not. It makes him anxious all of a sudden, and that's enough to make him more aware of his surroundings and wish for his sword.

Chad's sword is hidden under his bed.

Ryan is still staring at the sky, but his frown is more pronounced.

"You feel it too?" Chad whispers.

Ryan's jaw tightens.

Chad sees the reflection of something. It's just enough to trigger his fight-or-flight reflex. He stands as he turns around.

It's the same creature from before. The one that Ryan exploded. The one that wants to hurt Ryan and is probably angry at him for exploding it. If it's the same creature. Chad was under the assumption that there had been only one of those creatures, but it looks like he was wrong.

"What do you want?" Ryan asks in a voice that's not really his own. It sounds… ethereal. It hits Chad in the gut. Not even the surrealism of the war hammered in how real this is, but hearing Ryan use that voice is a sucker punch. It knocks the wind from Chad's lungs.

"The sheoques chose you well," the creature says in a creepy voice. It sends a shiver down Chad's spine. Chad is right: this is Ryan. "You need to complete the revolution."

"No," Ryan says in a firm voice. He glares at the creature unyieldingly.

"Then there must be a queen who will," it says. Chad watches it flex its claws and really wishes he had his sword. "The revolution must happen."

"No," Ryan repeats.

"Then you will die." The creature launches itself at Ryan.

Chad launches himself at the creature, but Ryan's already taken matters into his own hands and explodes the bastard.

Chad catches himself before he falls into the water trap. He looks at the chunks of what used to be… who knows what.

This is what his life is going to be like from now until forever. Things are going to want to kill them, come to them for guidance, or both. Cultures will change and so will their titles.

Ryan gives Chad a wry smile and adjusts his hat.

Chad smiles back.


End file.
